Editor

The debate and mixed feelings regarding the Covid-19 vaccination dosing regime rumbles on.

The vaccines currently being used in the UK were intended to be given twice, but over a much shorter timescale. The second dose was recommended to be administered around three weeks after the initial dose, rather than the three months or so now being the norm.

One of the fears is that this new regime will leave patients with only partial immunity for many extra weeks, and could make the virus more likely to gain vaccine resistance.

England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty acknowledges this fear, but said it was “ quite a small worry”.

On the other hand, if the vaccination rollout was slower, more people would be exposed to infection, which raises the chance that the virus could evolve and mutate.

“This change to the dosing schedule isn’t ideal because it deviates from the time periods that were tested in the vaccine trials, but the decision was taken in the context of this pandemic,” says Deborah Dunn-Walters, at the University of Surrey, who is chair of the British Society for Immunology’s Covid-19 Task force.

What I find difficult to accept is that many people for various reasons, including some front-line medical staff, are refusing to have a vaccination, leading to an increased risk to the rest of us, especially the elderly, sick, and vulnerable in our society.

We are in an emergency situation, and I am convinced that giving more people the first vaccination, thus giving more of the population some immunity, is best.

Those who have toiled long and hard to give us hope deserve our support.

The message here is simple and crucial: Have faith and get vaccinated as soon as you are able for the sake of us all.

Alun Lloyd Jones,Ceredigion county councillor

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