Vulnerable Brits should get a Covid booster jab this autumn as the disease can still kill, a top pandemic doctor has warned. Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam said elderly and immunosuppressed people are most at risk.
The leading scientist, who was England's deputy chief medical officer during the pandemic, said the virus could spike at any time of the year unlike flu, which tends to spike around Christmas.
Warning over Covid surge
Sir Jonathan – who was knighted for his role in communicating the latest guidance over the pandemic – warned: “This is now one of our recurrent human respiratory viruses, at least for the time being… we must take Covid-19 seriously.”
The Boston United fan borrowed one of the football analogies he was famed for during the pandemic as he told the Mirror: “It kind of feels like we’re coasting along to a dull nil-nil draw but anything can turn up in the 92nd minute, as we've always seen in football.
“The defence can't go to sleep [because] that's when things go wrong.”
Virus can surge at any time
Sir Jonathan said many people may get Covid-19 and assume they just have a cold. He said: “They might put it down as a cold. They might put it down to Covid in their minds or they might put it down to flu. With the greatest respect to doctors, we've never been very good at separating the different respiratory viruses out on the basis of symptoms.”
The top doctor said Covid has not developed into a seasonal illness in the way flu has – meaning it could surge before winter. There was a summer surge in Covid in July while the UK was basking in a heatwave, he added.
And despite modern variants being less likely to cause serious symptoms than during the pandemic, NHS England data shows 16,000 people were still hospitalised with Covid-19 last year.
NHS booster rollout
Sir Jonathan said: “With flu and with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) - the other two of the big three - you get a very distinct winter peak in the UK. RSV’s a bit earlier typically before Christmas. Flu is typically around Christmas or just after. Covid-19 comes and goes across the year.”
The NHS is offering free jabs to all over 75s, care home residents and anyone with a health condition that means their immune system is suppressed. Pharmacies are also offering private jabs for £85 to £100 for anyone who does not qualify for the free NHS booster.
