Councillor questions future of vaccinations

A councillor has asked if  Covid vaccinations will become a regular thing.

Councillor Strong  asked as he questioned the future plans for protecting against new variants in the Hywel Dda health board area.

A “national steer” on whether covid-19 vaccinations will be annual – and who would get them – is awaited by Hywel Dda University Health Board the deputy director of public health Jo McCarthy told Cllr Mark Strong.

Cllr Strong had asked at a recent mid Wales joint committee for health and care: “Many people ask if they now have to have a vaccine every year to protect them against various changes in the COVID 19 virus? This is particularly worrying when we hear that 4 have now died from the new form of infection that has arrived in the UK from India. What are your preparations for this?”

The response was read to members of the healthier communities overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday, June 24, who heard the heath board was preparing for a number of scenarios.

The committee heard that these include “annual vaccination for the whole Hywel Dda UHB population, given with flu vaccines (if this is approved), annual vaccination for those most at risk (JCVI groups 1-9) separately and with flu vaccines” and “different possible timelines for boosters, including the possibility of 6 monthly-3 yearly boosters.”

“The Health Board is well prepared for many scenarios as we have seven active mass vaccination sites and a good relationship with primary care around delivery.

“It is very difficult for us to offer anything more concrete at the moment while we do not know what the ask will be nationally around boosters,” added the response.