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NEWSLINE<br />
well before the NHS finds itself<br />
under unsustainable pressure.<br />
It will also determine whether<br />
the planned six-month gap for<br />
booster jabs is the best option for<br />
everyone, or needs to be brought<br />
forward for some people.<br />
Says Dr Fivelman: ‘The<br />
Government’s new Plan A, which<br />
includes booster jabs for the over<br />
50s and frontline health workers,<br />
and vaccinating 12–15-yearolds,<br />
will undoubtedly reduce<br />
hospitalisations this winter.<br />
However, to be sure to avoid the<br />
imposition of the Government’s<br />
Plan B measures, the NHS Test<br />
and Trace PCR programme needs<br />
to be supplemented with regular<br />
testing of Covid antibody levels.<br />
‘So far, the only Government<br />
action on this has been the limited<br />
antibody testing programme<br />
introduced by the <strong>UK</strong> Health<br />
Security Agency (<strong>UK</strong>HSA). This<br />
only gives free antibody tests<br />
to a proportion of those testing<br />
positive for Covid following a PCR<br />
test. Anyone else who wants to<br />
measure their antibody levels<br />
must still go private.<br />
‘The best way to avoid a sudden<br />
upsurge in hospitalisations is to<br />
have a far clearer idea of how<br />
well antibody levels are holding<br />
up across the population. That<br />
means we need to increase the<br />
number of IgG (immunoglobulin<br />
G) antibody tests being carried<br />
out, and a shared database<br />
needs to be created so<br />
information from Government<br />
and private labs can be bought<br />
together.<br />
‘Why is this vital? Antibodies<br />
don’t guarantee immunity, but a<br />
2020 British study in healthcare<br />
workers concluded that the<br />
presence of anti-virus IgG<br />
antibodies was associated with<br />
a substantially reduced risk of<br />
SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in the<br />
ensuing six months.<br />
‘Our research reveals that 1 in<br />
100 fully vaccinated people fail<br />
to develop any antibodies at all<br />
after vaccination. That means<br />
that, even if every <strong>UK</strong> adult<br />
is vaccinated, half a million<br />
adults will have no protection<br />
whatsoever, and not even<br />
realise.<br />
‘Of equal concern is the fact that<br />
our most recent tests are finding<br />
a growing number of people<br />
who have been jabbed now have<br />
lower values (50 to 500AU/ml)<br />
of antibodies and the clinical<br />
significance of this is still being<br />
researched. The “cut-off value”<br />
is still not known and how long<br />
protection will last is still being<br />
fully understood. If someone<br />
takes a test and their score is<br />
low, their antibody levels may<br />
have significantly declined over<br />
time, and they may be more<br />
susceptible to the virus as time<br />
passes.<br />
‘To avoid Plan B, we need to<br />
have a far clearer idea of the<br />
speed at which antibody levels<br />
are waning. We are beginning<br />
to develop a better picture<br />
of how long they survive and<br />
what kind of protection they<br />
offer over time. Researchers in<br />
Australia have found correlations<br />
between the efficacy of flu jabs<br />
and coronavirus vaccinations. It<br />
appears probable that immunity<br />
to severe infection may be much<br />
more durable over time than<br />
overall immunity to reinfection,<br />
but that any reinfection is usually<br />
mild. The protective efficacy was<br />
found to decline by about 7%<br />
per month after the influenza<br />
vaccination. This might give<br />
some indication of how Covid-19<br />
vaccines will perform over time.<br />
‘It’s not only severe infections<br />
that we need to prevent. Long<br />
Covid symptoms may also<br />
put the NHS under increasing<br />
pressure. New Government<br />
data released yesterday shows<br />
the ongoing impact of Long<br />
Covid. 9.4% of people reported<br />
symptoms ranging from<br />
fevers and aches to diarrhoea,<br />
shortness of breath and loss of<br />
smell up to eight weeks after<br />
infection, with 5% still suffering<br />
some of these after 16 weeks.<br />
‘If anyone is concerned about<br />
their own immune response<br />
to the jabs and how well they<br />
continue to produce antibodies,<br />
the new generation blood tests<br />
we offer are highly accurate,<br />
quick and simple to carry out,<br />
either in their own home or at a<br />
clinic. These tests are available<br />
privately for those who don’t<br />
qualify for the Government’s new<br />
limited testing programme.<br />
‘For the latest information<br />
about the level of protection<br />
vaccinations offer against<br />
Covid-19, see London<br />
Medical Laboratory’s new<br />
White Paper at: https://www.<br />
privatecoronavirustests.com/<br />
page/vaccine-immunity<br />
SECAmb<br />
Free Premier League<br />
and WSL tickets for<br />
emergency services<br />
Brighton & Hove Albion are<br />
giving away more than 1000 free<br />
Premier League and 500 free<br />
Women’s Super League match<br />
tickets to NHS and emergency<br />
services workers this season.<br />
As promised in the early part of the<br />
pandemic, the club committed to<br />
1000 free tickets to NHS workers,<br />
once the season resumed<br />
and fans were able to return to<br />
stadiums across the county.<br />
However, the football club has now<br />
increased the number of available<br />
tickets for NHS workers to attend<br />
even more men’s and women’s<br />
first team league matches.<br />
An additional 500 tickets have<br />
also been donated by the club to<br />
enable other emergency service<br />
workers the chance to apply to<br />
get their hands on the free tickets.<br />
Albion men’s first-team head<br />
coach Graham Potter said: “We<br />
are hugely grateful to the amazing<br />
work our emergency services<br />
undertake and never more so than<br />
the previous 18 months. As a club<br />
we have shown our gratitude and<br />
support wherever we can, and we<br />
are delighted to be able to offer<br />
these tickets.”<br />
Women’s first-team manager<br />
Hope Powell added: “We<br />
are really looking forward to<br />
welcoming fans back into<br />
stadiums for the new season,<br />
and I am delighted we, as a club,<br />
can show a small token of our<br />
appreciation to those emergency<br />
services heroes.”<br />
Will Campbell-Lamerton,<br />
Partnerships and Operations<br />
Manager at Blue Light Tickets,<br />
said:<br />
“The return of the Premier League<br />
will feel even more exciting this<br />
year, now that fans can once<br />
again show their support from<br />
the stadiums. The <strong>UK</strong>’s NHS and<br />
emergency workers have been the<br />
true heroes of the pandemic in the<br />
last 18 months. It’s thanks to their<br />
tremendous efforts to support the<br />
vaccine roll out that restrictions<br />
are now able to be lifted, and the<br />
whole nation owes them a great<br />
deal of thanks. It’s fantastic to be<br />
partnering with Brighton & Hove<br />
Albion to show our thanks by<br />
giving fans the chance to watch<br />
their football team for free.”<br />
Emergency service and NHS<br />
workers can now sign up to<br />
Blue Light Tickets and apply<br />
for the tickets here: https://<br />
bluelighttickets.co.uk/event/244<br />
All tickets are for Premier League<br />
and WSL fixtures over the course<br />
of the <strong>2021</strong>/22 season and tickets<br />
will be distributed through the<br />
Blue Light Tickets website.<br />
AMBULANCE <strong>UK</strong> - OCTOBER<br />
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