Professor Karina Butler:

There has not been the evidence to support the need for a third dose of a vaccine in staff who have already been vaccinated. The emphasis in that situation has to be to ensure that all staff are vaccinated and facilitated in whatever way possible to become vaccinated. In studies that have been done, the antibody levels in staff are very different from those in nursing home residents.

The other consideration is that we have to be mindful that the vaccines are a scarce resource and that, in using them, there are three things that we have to be happy about, namely, that a third dose is safe, that it is actually needed and that it will achieve what we set out to do. In terms of healthcare workers, that is a group that we are keeping under consideration because of their particular role. As yet, the evidence has not supported a need for a third dose in that group for those who are already vaccinated.