Have you had your booster jab (jag) ?

[Saffy]

Woke up feeling so sick I had to get up. Also numerous hot flushes. That might have happened anyway but I've never had so many during the night.

 

[cupid_stunt]

I had my booster on Monday and they told me the fact would be added to my medical records within a couple of days, but I am still being bombarded daily by the NHS with requests to get my booster.

Not exactly the world’s most awful problem I guess, but if the pharmacy where I had my jab has somehow managed to fuck up notifying The Man, I hope a photo of the paper card they gave me will suffice to convince them to update my vaccination status.

Even after my GP had added my booster to my NHS medical records, I still got a couple of more texts from the NHS inviting me for one.

I can only assume there's some delay to the data on the NHS medical records being transferred into the NHS national booking system.

 

[nagapie]

How does having had covid recently affect getting boostered? My colleague isn't vaccinated because she keeps getting it. I don't understand.
I'm pretty sure I'm an asymptotic carrier so how would I know? I'm assuming I should just go ahead and get my booster?

 

[LDC]

How does having had covid recently affect getting boostered? My colleague isn't vaccinated because she keeps getting it. I don't understand.
I'm pretty sure I'm an asymptotic carrier so how would I know? I'm assuming I should just go ahead and get my booster?

You mean she keeps getting covid? How many times does she think she's had it over what timescale? And confirmed by positive PCRs after having symptoms, or no symptoms with positive LFTs then confirmed by positive PCRs?

You'd know if you had it asymptomatically by doing LFTs and getting a positive test despite not having symptoms.

 

[nagapie]

You mean she keeps getting covid? You'd know if you had it asymptomatically by doing LFTs and getting a positive test despite not having symptoms.

I do regular lfts, they've always been negative. I even had a negative PCR when my kids had it. My whole family and work office have had it at some point. I work in a school and travel to work on the bus.

Apparently she's had it 3 times! She was fairly unwell all times, although not hospitalised.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Off for mine this morning.

 

[LDC]

I do regular lfts, they've always been negative. I even had a negative PCR when my kids had it. My whole family and work office have had it at some point. I work in a school and travel to work on the bus.

Apparently she's had it 3 times! She was fairly unwell all times, although not hospitalised.

Unless it had been confirmed by PCRs I'd be skeptical that someone had had it 3 times tbh. She should just check what the latest advice is for getting vaccinated post-infection. There doesn't sound any reason why you wouldn't be able to get a booster, but again just check advice.

 

[StoneRoad]

How does having had covid recently affect getting boostered? My colleague isn't vaccinated because she keeps getting it. I don't understand.
I'm pretty sure I'm an asymptotic carrier so how would I know? I'm assuming I should just go ahead and get my booster?

I remembered reading that one had to wait a while [several weeks ie 28 days !], so went & looked at the booking site, this info is from the booster info section, C&P below to confirm ...

If you've had a positive COVID-19 test​

If you're eligible for a booster dose and you've had a positive COVID-19 test, you need to wait 4 weeks (28 days) before getting a booster dose.

This starts from the date you had symptoms, or the date of the positive test if you did not have any symptoms. Please cancel and rebook your appointment for a later date if needed.

 

[nagapie]

Unless it had been confirmed by PCRs I'd be skeptical that someone had had it 3 times tbh. She should just check what the latest advice is for getting vaccinated post-infection. There doesn't sound any reason why you wouldn't be able to get a booster, but again just check advice.

She's had hers confirmed, I've never had a positive test
I think the answer is I just go ahead. There must be loads of people like me who have had it and not known but got vaccinated.

 

[magneze]

Just rebooked mine for a week earlier to this Monday based on this:

What does negative vaccine effectiveness mean?

 

[elbows]

What does negative vaccine effectiveness mean?

It means that using the method of data analysis they had to use (due to lack of alternatives given the currently available data), they ended up with results which showed AZ vaccinated people were more at risk of catching Omicron than those who hadnt been vaccinated. Or rather, the range of possibilities their calculations came up with, the confidence intervals, included a negative range as well as a feeble positive range.

They are well aware that this is probably an artefact of the limited data & analysis used. For example, they know that a lot of the people who were given two AZ jabs in the first place were likely to be older and in worse health, more at risk. Ideally it would be possible to adjust the results to take such factors into account, but that hasnt been done and so the numbers end up being very bad.

In theory, unless you have the data & methodology available to actually adjust for those and other factors, you cant completely rule out the possibility that those particular vaccines are actually making the risk worse than no vaccine. Then it becomes a question of making judgements of plausibility, including whether there are any theories as to how worse risk than no vaccine could possibly be the case.

 

[magneze]

Thank you elbows, appreciate you taking the time to explain clearly.

 

[elbows]

No problem. And to confirm what I was on about by quoting directly from the document with that chart:

1 The early observations for 2 doses of AstraZeneca are particularly likely to be unreliable as they are based on relative small numbers and are likely to reflect an older population and a population with more co-morbidities than those given the Pfizer vaccine, and this may explain the negative point estimates.

These results should be interpreted with caution due to the low numbers and the possible biases related to the populations with highest exposure to Omicron (including travellers and their close contacts) which cannot fully be accounted for.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1040076/Technical_Briefing_31.pdf

 

[xenon]

Booked it for the 22nd at a local church. Supposed to be going to the theatre that night, assuming it's still on by then.

 

[elbows]

Its also important to note, as ever, that those early estimates deal with risk of infection rather than risk of severe disease. To quote from the next paragraph of that document:

With previous variants, vaccine effectiveness against severe disease, including hospitalisation and death, has been significantly higher than effectiveness against mild disease (that is those detected through community testing and included here). It will be a few weeks before effectiveness against severe disease with Omicron can be estimated, however based on this experience, this is likely to be substantially higher than the estimates against symptomatic disease. After the emergence of Delta in the UK, early estimates of vaccine effectiveness against mild infection after 2 doses of vaccine were substantially attenuated in comparison to alpha. Analysis of protection against hospitalisation however, showed no diminution of protection when comparing the 2 variants.

 

[baldrick]

Just went to get my booster. Somehow my NHS record has an erroneous entry on it that says my second jab was in August so they couldn't/wouldn't do it. Hopefully 119 can sort it out. Grrr.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Just had my booster. Fucking hell, my arm is on fire.

 

[elbows]

Just went to get my booster. Somehow my NHS record has an erroneous entry on it that says my second jab was in August so they couldn't/wouldn't do it. Hopefully 119 can sort it out. Grrr.

The limit is only 3 months now, eg I had 2nd dose on 6th August and after the changes to the booking system this week I could have booked and received a booster this week without falling foul of the current rules. But I say that as someone in England and dont know your location.

 

[Badgers]

Hope don't have to have any more bloody boosters

You are joking right?

 

[ddraig]

You are joking right?

Nope! knocked me sideways

 

[StoneRoad]

I think my SiL will be watching for an anti-omicron specific booster, as being NHS staff, she had her booster right at the start of the campaign, probably back in September.
That household, except for her, have also had a dose of the "Delta" variant [brought in by the youngest sprog, from school]

 

[baldrick]

The limit is only 3 months now, eg I had 2nd dose on 6th August and after the changes to the booking system this week I could have booked and received a booster this week without falling foul of the current rules. But I say that as someone in England and dont know your location.

Oh! Also England. Well my erroneous record says 4th Aug. The place I went to had signs up saying it had to be six months. My actual second dose was June.

119 cut me off repeatedly when trying to get through to the "vaccination data resolution team" so I'm now on my way to the pharmacy who did my second jab so hopefully I will either get my record corrected and a jab, or just a jab. Let's see.

 

[Sue]

Can I ask what's maybe a stupid question? I got a third primary dose a couple of months ago and was told I'd likely get called back for a booster. (I'm immunosupressed.)

Does that mean I'm currently in essentially the same position as a double vaxxed but unboostered person? I'm guessing so?

It ddn't really seem like that much of an issue before but feels like that's changed with Omicron and the efficacy after two jabs but no booster. (I've had three Pfizers fwiw.)

 

[elbows]

Can I ask what's maybe a stupid question? I got a third primary dose a couple of months ago and was told I'd likely get called back for a booster. (I'm immunosupressed.)

Does that mean I'm currently in essentially the same position as a double vaxxed but unboostered person? I'm guessing so?

It ddn't really seem like that much of an issue before but feels like that's changed with Omicron and the efficacy after two jabs but no booster. (I've had three Pfizers fwiw.)

Nobody actually knows what position you are really in as an individual. They've used a series of assumptions that can be true overall without actually reflecting the reality of a particular individuals immune response.

Since you qualified for a third primary dose there are obviously some medical factors which they think place you at risk of getting less benefit from vaccines. There is no way to know what the reality is in your case without actually testing your levels of certain antibodies, or seeing what actually happens if you get infected.

In addition to the underlying immune system realities in your case, the general data they have is very time-dependent in terms of waning effects. So at lest your last dose was not too many months ago, which counts in your favour.

Your own personal perception is relevant but again I wont be able to give you nice helpful answers about whether it was perfectly spot on before or after the arrival of Omicron. Its still early days in terms of them discovering what the effects of Omicron are on vaccine-induced protection, and thats especially true when it comes to more serious illness, hospitalisation etc. And when they do come out with better refined estimates on that, they will end up with broad, general figures rather than numbers that best fit with the reality of your own protection against this or other variants.

 

[gentlegreen]

Are they offering antibody tests for the immunosuppressed ?

 

[Sue]

Nobody actually knows what position you are really in as an individual. They've used a series of assumptions that can be true overall without actually reflecting the reality of a particular individuals immune response.

Since you qualified for a third primary dose there are obviously some medical factors which they think place you at risk of getting less benefit from vaccines. There is no way to know what the reality is in your case without actually testing your levels of certain antibodies, or seeing what actually happens if you get infected.

In addition to the underlying immune system realities in your case, the general data they have is very time-dependent in terms of waning effects. So at lest your last dose was not too many months ago, which counts in your favour.

Your own personal perception is relevant but again I wont be able to give you nice helpful answers about whether it was perfectly spot on before or after the arrival of Omicron. Its still early days in terms of them discovering what the effects of Omicron are on vaccine-induced protection, and thats especially true when it comes to more serious illness, hospitalisation etc. And when they do come out with better refined estimates on that, they will end up with broad, general figures rather than numbers that best fit with the reality of your own protection against this or other variants.

Thanks elbows, when i was asking about me, I guess I was wondering about it at cohort level. But sounds like they're unlikely to have the data for that yet, never mind putting the underlying different reasons for the third primary dose into the data mix. So probably keeping with reduced social contact etc is best right now.

 

[gentlegreen]

I see Lloyds are offering quantitative home tests for £50 ...

Coronavirus (COVID-19) antibody test kit

Get tested for COVID antibodies. Results within 2-3 working days.

onlinedoctor.lloydspharmacy.com

 

[Sue]

Are they offering antibody tests for the immunosuppressed ?

Haven't heard anything about that personally but as a general thing, seems a bit unlikely?

 

[baldrick]

Oh! Also England. Well my erroneous record says 4th Aug. The place I went to had signs up saying it had to be six months. My actual second dose was June.

119 cut me off repeatedly when trying to get through to the "vaccination data resolution team" so I'm now on my way to the pharmacy who did my second jab so hopefully I will either get my record corrected and a jab, or just a jab. Let's see.

Neither. Apparently they can't change someone else's record and also refused me a jab even though they have the paper records showing my second dose was June. Their suggestion was contacting the place who made the error. I'm not travelling to fucking Bloxwich for someone else to say computer says no. I will have to wait for the team at 119 who have an SLA of 21 days to respond to a request. Which I can't yet do until I stop getting cut off. If I get Covid and die I will be so annoyed!

 

[gentlegreen]

Haven't heard anything about that personally but as a general thing, seems a bit unlikely?

It seems a little unfair that they don't offer it - especially as the data acquired must surely be of interest ...