Elderly and vulnerable people who are double vaccinated against Covid-19 have started dying of the virus due to the jab’s waning efficacy, a chief medical advisor has said.
Dr Susan Hopkins at the UK Health Security Agency said while the coronavirusbooster rollout was going well she wanted to urge more people to come forward to get their top-up jabs.
The scientist’s comment come as the chief executive of NHS Providers warned that health trusts in England are already at peak winter levels for bed occupancy.
It also comes as health secretary Sajid Javid urged the elderly and vulnerable to get their booster jabs as part of a ‘national mission’ to help avoid a return to coronavirus restrictions over Christmas.
Last week reports said Number 10 was concerned about hospital admissions and deaths among double-vaccinated people rising due to waning immunity.
Health chiefs have warned for months that the vaccine’s effects wane after five or six months after the second dose, which prompted the Government to launch a booster campaign in the autumn.
Speaking about the mortality rates relating to Covid-19 on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Dr Hopkins said: ‘The people who are dying are the same people who have died all the way through.
