Webinar: COVID-19 and Flu vaccinations for frontline care workers

NHS immunisation leads Carole Bissett and Gill Marsh present on the COVID-19 and flu vaccinations in this webinar and Q&A session that took place on 21 November, 2022.

Those taking part were able to ask questions of a panel of NHS clinicians including Consultant Obstetrician Teresa Kelly and GP Dr Fiona Lemmens, as well as members of the primary care regional vaccination team.

(subtitles on recording are autogenerated)

Q&A from the session:

Q How does one person being vaccinated prevent them from passing on COVID-19 onto others?

A If a person has milder symptoms due to having the vaccine, they are less likely to be shedding the virus and transmitting it to others. The more infectious you are, the higher the chances are that you will transmit the virus to someone else.

Q How does the vaccine prevent the chance of getting COVID-19? Is it a preventative measure or is it purely to reduce the impact rather than numbers?

A The COVID-19 vaccination will reduce the chance of you suffering from severe COVID-19 disease. It may take a few days for your body to build up some protection from the booster.

Like all medicines, no vaccine gives a 100% guarantee of not catching the virus – some people may still get COVID-19 despite getting vaccinated, but this should be less severe.

The vaccines are most effective at reducing serious illness with COVID-19 and admission to hospital. They will also reduce overall transmission by reducing the total number of cases and serious cases, so reducing the likelihood of being exposed and exposing others.

Q If the COVID 19 vaccine does not prevent someone from contracting the virus, why have it?

A Having the vaccine reduces the severity of the virus and reduces the chances of hospitalisation or death, which in turn helps to alleviate the pressures on the NHS and hospitals.

It’s also important to have the vaccine to help protect others in society who could be vulnerable to hospitalisation and death from the virus. As more people are vaccinated in the community, there is a reduced chance of contracting the virus, similar to the benefits of large numbers of people having the Polio vaccine.

Q How many people have died from COVID-19 compared to the number of people that survived under the age of 50?

A We know that as we go up through the age groups, there is an increased chance of death if the person is unvaccinated, so more of those who died from the virus were over the age of 50. The vaccine helps to reduce the risk of death from COVID 19.

Q We were told we would need three doses, now we’re being asked to have a fourth dose. Why?

A The protection from any vaccine fades over time. In addition, it is common for vaccines to change over time, so the vaccine will change to match any variants. We see this happen with the flu vaccine each year.

The COVID-19 autumn booster has been tailored to combat the Omicron variant. COVID 19 is not going away and, similar to the flu programme, is likely to need boosters.  At this moment in time, it is unclear how frequently the boosters will be needed for the virus and whether there will be further changes to the vaccine.

The situation is being constantly reviewed and monitored by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)

Q Are the symptoms after having the autumn booster vaccine any worse than previous doses of the vaccine?

A All vaccines stimulate your immune system to build protection as this happens some people will experience symptoms that are usually mild and usually last for a maximum of 24-48 hours

There are no reported issues on this being any different to other vaccines. Everyone is different and may experience various symptoms or none at all. This is like other vaccines, such as the flu vaccine.

Q How safe is the COVID-19 vaccine and has it been tested?

A Each of the vaccines are tested on thousands of people across the world. They are tested on both men and women, on people from different ethnic backgrounds, and of all age groups. Hundreds of millions of people have received the COVID-19 vaccine so we know the vaccine is safe.

Q Can the Covid vaccine cause infertility?

A The vaccine does not cause infertility; this is a myth. There is no mechanism in the vaccine to cause infertility.

 Q Is there any data on the vaccination status of those people in hospital with Covid to support the narrative that the vaccine prevents you from becoming unwell enough to need hospital admission? If so, is it the unvaccinated that make up the bulk of these people?

A There is very good evidence that vaccination reduces the likelihood of hospital admission. It is too early to assess the full impact on admissions of the autumn booster, campaign but we did see a significant reduction in admission about 3 weeks after the campaign started and this decrease has continued.

 Do social care workers have a choice about having the COVID-19 vaccine?

A It is recommended that health care professionals should take up the vaccine. In other countries, such as in America, it is in an employee work contract. Here, the vaccine is not mandated by the government and it is a choice for health care workers to take up the vaccine to protect patients and the people around them from the virus. There is evidence to show the vaccine works and protects others.

Q Are the numbers of people in social care declining the COVID-19 booster similar to numbers of people declining the flu vaccine?

A There is limited data available at this moment in time to provide this information. We are continuing to make sure people get the most reliable scientific information to help them make a decision. Some of the information on social media is misleading or completely inaccurate and we encourage everyone to look at reputable sources, including the NHS website (www.nhs.uk).

Q How do I convince my children, who had refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, to get it?

A COVID-19 has seriously disrupted everyone’s lives, but this has been especially true of children, where the impact on school life and social life has been very considerable. Thankfully children are less likely to have an extremely serious COVID19 illness but there have been lots of children who have, and sadly some have died (including children who were previously completely healthy). There have also been many cases of Long Covid in children. One important thing for children and parents to bear in mind is each new variant of COVID has a slightly different impact on patients –a future variant may impact more significantly on children, so vaccine protection has future benefit too.

Q Testing for COVID-19 doesn’t seem to be all that accurate. Lateral flow tests can be unreliable and confusing. They are also not free. Surely this affects the numbers of confirmed Covid cases?  Is there anything being done about this going forward?

A The best estimate of total cases comes from Office of National Statistics – it is always an estimate because we can’t test everyone all the time. We must also continue to rely on good infection control practices, including regular handwashing.

Q Do protective nasal sprays on the market work to reduce the risk of catching flu?

A There is no evidence that nasal sprays can prevent flu.