Dr. Ronan Glynn:

The uptake of boosters in a general sense has certainly slowed since Christmas and the new year. In the weeks running up to that period, we saw a very significant uptake. That has slowed but, that said, there is a variety of reasons. Taking the proportion of people who have been boosted and the proportion who cannot be boosted because they have recently been infected and who are waiting for a booster in a month or two, we estimate that 80% of all those eligible to be boosted have been boosted. That compares very favourably internationally but, again, there is a proportion of people who have not taken the opportunity. We have to take every opportunity we can to reiterate the importance of being boosted It is very clear from data from the US that the risk of infection among unvaccinated adults, by comparison with those who have been boosted, is five times higher. Their risk of death is 50 times higher. We are aware that the risk of infection from Omicron among those who are boosted is approximately 50% lower, and they are 90% to 95% protected against severe disease, hospitalisation and death. Therefore, boosting really does have a significant impact in protecting people from severe illness. While our uptake of boosters is excellent overall, there are pockets of people who, for whatever reason, have not yet come forward, but of course it is not too late. We encourage everyone to come forward in the weeks ahead to get themselves protected.

Importantly, given where we are with the easing of measures at present, we will all be coming into contact with people around us who are potentially older or vulnerable, so there is an onus on us from that perspective to protect ourselves from infection so we will not pass an infection on to others. While vaccines do not provide absolute protection against transmission and perhaps do not protect against transmission at the level we anticipated this time last year, they are still effective. Compared to all the other measures we have, they are probably the most effective we have against transmission and the most effective in reducing the possibility of infection for an individual.