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https://theconversation.com/with-a-covid-variant-soup-looming-new-zealand-urgently-needs-another-round-of-vaccine-boosters-193616>
"Almost three years into the COVID pandemic, it clearly isn’t over.
New offshoots of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 continue to proliferate
worldwide. The virus is mutating extensively and convergently (meaning the same
mutations are popping up along different family trees) and, as a result, we now
have what is increasingly being called a “variant soup”.
The current range of immunity-evading descendants of the Omicron variant is
unprecedented in its diversity, which makes it harder to predict coming waves.
Although some may feel infection has now become inevitable, we must not forget
that vaccination substantially lowers the risk of infection (including
Omicron), hospitalisation and death, and staying free of infection means not
having to face the risk of long COVID.
Vaccine protection is even better after receiving at least one booster,
compared with just having the primary series. This is why Aotearoa New Zealand
needs to embark on another round of boosters to better protect the population.
At present, just over 90% of the population aged 12 years or older have
completed the primary course. More than 70% aged 18 or older have received the
first booster, but only just over 40% of those over 50 have received the second
booster. We look like an increasingly vulnerable population.
What we also need now, but do not yet have, is a sterilising vaccine of the
sort we have for measles. This kind of vaccine eliminates the pathogen before
it can replicate. The vaccinated person does not get ill, nor can they pass it
on to others. Research is underway, including in New Zealand, but we are not
there yet."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
