East Riding health boss: 'Autumn Covid vaccine booster could be extended'
Infection rates have been increasing due to new omicron variants
Health bosses in the East Riding expect the autumn booster vaccination programme to be extended to cope with rising Covid cases.
Infection rates have been increasing due to new Omicron variants.
Zoe Stevens, Public Health Nurse Consultant at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: "I think it would be a good idea. We're still awaiting guidance as to whether or not that decision has been made, but I think it's likely that we will be looking at a booster programme in the Autumn. We know that if we increase people's immunity by giving them another dose of the vaccine, that protects them for longer again. So if we did vaccination people again in the Autumn, that would see them through the Winter months.
"We're expecting that these numbers are going to peak around mid-July and hopefully then we'll see a decline again. But obviously, with new variants emerging all the time we're constantly on the lookout and the potential impact that could have on our health care services which yes, going into Winter, we have seasonal flu to consider as well, so we could be in for a tough time ahead.
"We are still concerned. The fact that the numbers are going up isn't a good thing and also thinking about wider system pressures and the impact this has on our health service because ultimately, the more cases we see, some of those cases will translate to hospital admissions therefore increasing pressure on services."