University of Leeds virologist explains need for booster Covid vaccine as Omicron variant spreads

A Leeds virus expert has said that a third 'booster' dose of the vaccine will help protect people, but has criticised Government policy that allowed the Omicron variant to spread.
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It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared an “Omicron emergency” and announced plans to administer millions more jabs by December 31.

Mr Johnson, in a pre-recorded address to the nation, said Britain “must urgently reinforce our wall of vaccine protection” and that being fully vaccinated is “simply not enough”.

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Dr Stephen Griffin is a viral oncologist based in the University of Leeds, a member of the Independent SAGE group and has featured on various government committees during the Covid-19 crisis.

Dr Stephen Griffin from the University of Leeds explains how the Covid-19 vaccines work and why a third 'booster' jab will help better protect people.Dr Stephen Griffin from the University of Leeds explains how the Covid-19 vaccines work and why a third 'booster' jab will help better protect people.
Dr Stephen Griffin from the University of Leeds explains how the Covid-19 vaccines work and why a third 'booster' jab will help better protect people.

Dr Griffin said: “The government policy has been 100 per cent reliant on vaccines, and that's one way of doing things when you've got things under control but frankly, I don't think anybody sensibly would argue that you can just keep vaccinating in the middle of a pandemic and hope that it all goes away again.

“The reason relying on vaccines is a problem is that vaccines give you protection against severe disease because they stimulate a T- cell response, but they also give you an antibody response.

“The antibody response does wane over time, and the antibody response is what protects you from being infected in the first place.

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“Getting a third dose not only restores those levels of antibodies but actually makes them better through a process called affinity maturation - that is basically your antibodies get better at binding to the bits of the virus that matter more

“The problem with Omicron is many more changes in the spike protein, which we know disrupt the binding of antibodies.”

He added: “Our vaccine is still based on the original virus. Unfortunately, that array of antibodies that we make isn't really as good at binding to the Omicron variant and so for that reason, we call it an ‘antibody evasive variant’.

“We should still have a level of protection against severe disease because we have T-cell responses but it's never absolute with these things.

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“You're never 100 per cent protected because we're genetically diverse as human beings. We make different responses to vaccines and will have different responses to virus infections.

“The good news though is that a third dose does help protect us against Omicron. It increases those levels of antibodies and it also refines the antibodies to make them better at stopping the Omicron variant even though it has all these changes in it.

“So that's really important to understand, but it's also important to understand that the reason we need a booster is because we're being exposed to these things and that there are things that we can do to minimise the exposure to these viruses and we're not doing them.”

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As well as measures such as maintaining distance from other people, mask wearing and ventilation, Dr Griffin says the Government needs to address the issue of the virus spreading through schools and implement vaccines for children.

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However, he thinks these measures should have been put in place much earlier before the virus was able to spread.

Dr Griffin said: “Plan B is being implemented far too late. It is like trying to stop a rhinoceros with a wet lettuce leaf - it's just not going to happen.

“It's really difficult to understand why, after having had to undergo three lockdowns, they [the Government] fail to act in a timely fashion again, to stop the spread because Delta was already causing some major problems

“We need to supplement [wearing masks and social distancing] with proper contact isolation. They're talking about replacing isolating people with a lateral flow test - that's nonsense.

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“We need to improve ventilation in schools, we need to improve the masking, all these things need to be done again, unfortunately, and had they been done sooner we would require fewer mitigation measures for less time.

“The problem is that we haven't implemented measures in a timely fashion and so you end up having extreme measures, which last a long time i.e a lockdown.

“If we had kept things in place over summer, when cases were right down rather than opening up, then we'd have control of this situation much better.”

He added: “The fact is that the balance of risk has been shifted because they've not controlled it.

“That's the simple reality of it.

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“When they have got control, which has required extreme measures to do so, they have basically spurned all that effort and suffering by allowing it to just go again.

“If you leave the embers of a fire burning, and you walk away, it's gonna come back again.”

From Monday December 13 people aged 30 and over can book an appointment for their booster.

From Wednesday December 15, all adults over 18 can have a booster – as long as their second dose was at least three months ago.

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A spokesperson for the vaccination programme said: "The NHS is working hard to ensure everyone is offered a booster by the end of the month and we are asking people to book an appointment when they are eligible rather than walking in.

"This will minimise the need to queue now that services are especially busy and also help staff to vaccinate people as quickly as possible."

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