Youâd hope @Batigol has done the right thing here.
Boris with an about turn?
From The Indo.
Here we go, booster 89 in 2034 should do it.
People may need to get a fourth dose of vaccine to protect themselves against Covid-19, TĂĄnaiste Leo Varadkar has warned.
As the roll-out of boosters will be extended to the over-50s from tomorrow, Mr Varadkar told the DĂĄil today that evidence from Israel shows immunity wanes after a third dose and a fourth dose may yet be needed.
He urged people to get their booster jab when it is offered to them, but accepted this would protect them primarily from the Delta variant.
He admitted that a fourth dose would likely be needed to protect against the new Omicron variant.
âIt does seem that the existing vaccines are effective against Omicron when it comes to severe disease and death,â the TĂĄnaiste said, if not protecting against contracting illness and being unwell.
âThatâs why I would encourage people to get their third dose, and itâs why I will get my third dose whenever Iâm asked to come and get it,â he said.
âIf and when a new vaccine or a vaccine-tweak for Omicron is ready, of course weâll make that available. But we donât know when that is yet. Itâs likely to be three months or more.
âIn the meantime I think itâs advisable that people get the third dose â and then they may well then get a fourth dose later down the line, because the evidence from Israel is that unfortunately, immunity wanes from third dose as well.â
He said it may be the case that the Covid vaccine becomes a jab people have to have on an annual basis, particularly those with underlying medical conditions. This would be a seasonal matter, âlike we have with the fluâ, he said.
Asked if Taoiseach MicheĂĄl Martin was being unfair about the Irish public yesterday when he may have implied a popular unwillingness or indifference to the third dose, Mr Varadkar said Mr Martin was one of the fairest people he knew and did not intend it that way.
âI think the Taoiseach is always very fair, and heâs one of the fairest people that Iâve ever worked with,â he said.
âMy experience in the health service is that there is typically a Did Not Attend (DNA) proportion of about 20pc for appointments.
âThose happen for all sorts of reasons, often good reasons. Itâs not just the case that people donât show up. Itâs often more complicated than that.â
Asked if the HSE should over-book appointments instead of having empty halls, as happens in the aviation sector, Mr Varadkar replied: âThere generally is overbooking to take account of that.
âBut what weâve seen in the last couple of weeks is a little strange. You do not expect a DNA ratio that is something like 50pc. That is unusual.â
Asked how it was coming about, he said: âAnecdotally what Iâm hearing from people is that itâs happening for all sorts of reasons. Itâs not that people canât be bothered to turn up.
âSometimes people have had their vaccine already. Sometimes theyâve had two appointments. They find it hard to cancel an appointment, but these are teething problems.
"We actually had this similar problem in the first phase of the vaccine programme, and it will be sorted out once more.
âLetâs not lose sight of the bigger picture here. We have a really exceptionally successful vaccine program in Ireland. We have 93pc of adults fully vaccinated.
âWe are fourth in Europe, almost top of the league, when it comes to the third doses for priority groups, and now we have plans to extend that to all adults â and also start to vaccinate children aged from five to 11 as well.â
On Omicron as a looming threat, Mr Varadkar said: âWeâre still learning about the emerging variant. There isnât an awful lot that we know about it yet.
âWeâre getting kind of scraps of information based on small studies. There isnât an awful lot that we know about it at this stage.
âThere are some suggestions that it is more transmissible than Delta, but also that it produces less severe illness. It seems that there is vaccine escape.
âBut it is anticipated that the existing vaccines will give a very high level of protection when it comes to preventing severe illness and death.
âAnd ultimately, that is why we get vaccines. Itâs not to avoid getting a mild illness or even getting illness at all. Itâs to avoid severe hospitalisation and death.â
4 no more
Maybe just skip the third and go straight for the fourth?
The next 4 boosters are critical?
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We have to wait and see. But be cautious in the meantime.
If we autumn this out we can spring anywhere
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@mikehunt and that utter gombeen @glasagusban raging in 18 months time at the unvaxxed 6 shotters who havenât got their 7th booster taking up hospital spaces. 'If only these lunatics would get their 7th shot weâd have 144 free beds in ICU and this would be over.
Itâs more sad than funny.
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ROD and Michael McNamara should be running the country.
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Hon Gary Neville.
The Pfizer vaccine is not efffective against Omicron 
Youâll need another new 3 dose vaccine.
I saw two contradicting headlines on that earlier, joke. 
Iâm going round with a spring in my step all day after reading a headline that the vaccines are effective against Omicron?? Wtaf?? (Iâm not sure what the a stands for)
absolute?
The Chinese own Sri Lanka, and now they are going to take India