Dr's Casebook: Get fully vaccinated and have the Covid booster jab when eligible

The appearance of Omicron as a new coronavirus variant of concern has been one of the main news topics over the past week.
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Dr Keith Souter writes: Like the other variants of concern, it has been named after a Greek letter of the alphabet, in this case the 15th, or the equivalent of our letter o.

The concern around the world is its greater transmissibility. This has occurred because of the high number of mutations in the spike proteins on the surface of the virus.

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These are the barbs which lock onto receptor sites on our cells, thereby gaining entry to them so that they can start the process of replicating the virus.

A year ago today (December 8), the UK began its Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Photo: Getty ImagesA year ago today (December 8), the UK began its Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Photo: Getty Images
A year ago today (December 8), the UK began its Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Photo: Getty Images

The early indications are that although Omicron seems to have greater transmissibility, it seems less likely to cause severe disease.

It does not seem to cause the usual loss of smell or taste and it seems less likely to produce a drop in oxygen levels. It will be a few weeks before we know more.

Reports from other countries suggests that the vaccines are not necessarily preventing transmission.

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The important thing that we do know is that the vaccines seem to be very protective against developing severe disease.

The protection that we get increases with the number of doses that are received.

It looks as though we need three doses, that is two doses and the booster to get the best effect.

And one should not be worried about this, because several diseases, including hepatitis B, polio and diphtheria need three lots of vaccine.

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Repeated doses of the vaccine work by an immunological process called antibody affinity maturation.

What happens is that the vaccine response is to produce antibody- producing cells. These travel around the body to lymph nodes, the glands that swell in the neck, armpits and groins in response to various infections.

There they multiply and undergo mutations in the genes responsible for producing the antibodies as they mature.

This increases their affinity to target the spike proteins, so they become stronger and more effective.

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The effect is that every time the body is in contact either with the virus or another dose of vaccine, they make even stronger antibodies.

So, getting fully vaccinated and having the booster when you are eligible and are called to have it, is really important.

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