REVIEW
COVID BOOSTERS: ARE THEY ENOUGH TO PREVENT A WINTER SPIKE IN INFECTIONS?
As new variants of coronavirus continue to emerge, the next round of vaccinations has started in a bid to protect the most vulnerable people
REALITY CHECK
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE HEADLINES
COVID boosters | Anew force | Salt
ALAMY
“If the uptake of the booster is low in the vulnerable population, a rise in severe infections and hospitalisations will probably follow”
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As the new COVID-19 subvariant, BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola (see page 26), spread across the world, the UK Health Security Agency decided to bring the start of the booster vaccination programme for the most vulnerable people forward to 11 September.
BA.2.86 was first identified in Denmark on 24 July, before turning up in Israel, the UK and the US. At the time of writing in early September, more than 30 cases of Pirola had been detected in England, 28 of which were in a Norfolk care home. But how effective are booster jabs at combatting new variants like this and should we all be getting them?