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The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) statement on spring 2023 COVID-19 vaccinations has been published.
Dr Catherine Hyams, PostDoctoral Clinical Research Fellow and Principal Investigator on the AvonCAP study, University of Bristol, said:
“Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 remain an important modifier of COVID-19 disease and it really is remarkable how effective these vaccines are across all patient age-groups. The reason that the recommendation is only for certain groups and the booster hasn’t been recommended more widely for most people is that the protection from these novel vaccines is substantial and protects most people for longer than six months, which is interval at which boosters have previously been given. Whilst the protection offered by the last dose of COVID-19 vaccine remains effective, any additional vaccine dose (i.e. another booster) would have little effect in reducing the risk of severe COVID-19 – so, for most people, another vaccine dose within six months from the last would have little benefit and wouldn’t reduce their risk of severe COVID-19. Therefore, a further booster programme for everyone which occurs six-months after the last booster and isn’t during the winter period, when respiratory infection is highest, would be of little benefit to most people.
“We know that immune protection provided by a vaccine can decrease over time can occur (we call this waning) and it is likely that this effect happens at different rates in different patient risk groups. Monitoring of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines has focused on evaluating the duration of protection offered by COVID-19 vaccines – across the whole population and at risk groups – to make sure that any groups who have faster waning are identified. Before making any recommendation, the JCVI will have reviewed all the latest published and unpublished analyses, and it’s important to recognise that the JCVI is comprised of experts in the field of infectious diseases and vaccinology. There is evidence that waning immunity following vaccination can occur earlier in individuals of older age and those who are immunocompromised, and these individuals also have increased risk of severe COVID-19. These are precisely the groups that the JCVI have advised offering a booster vaccine to in Spring 2023, as these individuals are more likely to have a shorter duration of protection from their previous dose and therefore will benefit from the additional protection offered from a booster dose.”
Prof Jonathan Ball, Professor of Molecular Virology, University of Nottingham, said:
“The JCVI recommendations on which groups to offer a spring booster are based on clinical need/benefit. Those not in the groups listed are less likely to suffer serious disease and therefore the benefit is lower.”
Declared interests
Dr Catherine Hyams is the Principal Investigator of the AvonCAP study and a Co-Investigator of the AvonCAP GP2 study. AvonCAP evaluates the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against severe disease in hospitalised patients (publishing results to this effect), and is an investigator-led study from the University of Bristol which is funded through a collaborative agreement by Pfizer Inc. Dr Hyams is also a member of the UKHSA COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness (VE) Working Group.”
Prof Jonathan Ball: “None.”