6d ago

Why is there no yearly refreshed covid vaccination recommendation for adults (like from the WHO)?

Title is question, but to clarify my assumptions:

Vaccination is a numbers game, and the odds are in your favor that the vaccination will protect you over you get a side effect or an allergic reaction/shock
An infection like covid/flue can damage your body long term, not even speaking of long covid etc.
To the best of my knowledge it has been shown that flue shoots lower the risk of dementia later in life, wouldn't it be a good enough guess that a covid shoot decreases risks for this too
Even if we only assume a covid vaccination is highly to reduce your sick days for only this year, isn't it a rationale tradeoff to get vaccinated, just to avoid 1-2 weeks sick?
Given the security of covid vaccinations, I feel like they have been scrutinized and tested extremely well and to the best of my knowledge it was checked that nothing of the vaccination remains in the body after a few weeks (for the argument that nobody knows the long term effects of RNA vaccination)

Again my question: Why doesn't the WHO or don't most countries recommend covid vaccinations for everyone? Are there any health/medical reasons? Are there financial reasons? Are there any countries/governments which recommend the covid vaccination for everyone and not only the 'vulnerable groups'?

Edit: Just to add, I am living in Germany and right now we have a big wave of children flue, where children even die in the hospitals and the children hospitals are near their limits. It seems common sense to just put flue/covid vaccination into every child/adult, to avoid situations like this.

23 comments

It’s being scrubbed. Don’t expect updates.

I'm in one of the more liberal areas of the US, and as far as I'm aware, the local hospitals recommend covid & flu shots for everyone in the fall, not just vulnerable populations. I've never had any trouble getting covid/flu shots in the fall, and they used to even come to our office to offer flu shots to everyone. I think by this time of year though, they may only be recommended for vulnerable populations due to supply issues.
I have a slightly off topic question of my own: is "flue" a regional spelling? I have always seen it as "flu", and searching for "flu vs flue" is just giving me results like "cold vs flu".
- Wow, nice! Do you have to pay for the shots or do you get them for free?
  Sorry, 'flue' is just my incompetence at using the English language, it seems I also learned that it is 'shot' and not 'shoot'.
  I have a super bad German accent when I speak English, and although I hope I have a descent understanding of the language, I couldn't write a sentence with correct spelling/grammar if my life depended on it.
  Thanks a lot for chiming in!
  
  Sorry, ‘flue’ is just my incompetence at using the English language
  No, don't apologize; your command of English is far superior to my grasp of German!
  (about all I can say is: "Ich spreche nicht Deutsch" and "Sprechen sie Englisch?" -- and when I put those phrases into Google Translate to check myself, I found that I had the wrong word for 'Englisch' -- I thought it was something like Anglit!)
  
  Do you have to pay for the shots or do you get them for free?
  In the US that's a tricky question because for the most part our insurance will cover it at 100%, so it feels like they are free shots because you can walk into a pharmacy, get a shot, and walk out without having to pay. However, we pay a lot out of each paycheck for that insurance (those of us lucky enough to have a job that offers decent insurance).
  
  I've always gotten them for free, but through health insurance. I believe there are some resources available to help uninsured people to get them for free, but the added hassle often deters people.
  No worries about "flue", I understood what you meant, and that's the primary goal of language. There's definitely some other English words with regional spelling variations (grey/gray, tire/tyre, color/colour), and many other confusing, similarly spelled words (lose/loose, bowl/bowel, descent/decent 😉). Have you heard about spelling bees? Spelling vs. pronunciation in English is so inconsistent that it's one of few languages where holding them makes much sense. I bet they'd be pretty silly to hold in German!
  
  For what it's worth, a flue is an adjustable opening in a wood stove or similar, Kernspalt in German according to Harper Collins. Now you just have to work the conversation around to the efficient use of a wood stove... 😄

WHO does recommend the vaccine (2 doses for mRNA) for all adults. In Germany, 3 doses are recommended. As for not recommending further doses every year, it takes into consideration the benefits of further vaccinations vs the risks. There's also the assumption that people will get Covid even after their initial vaccinations, so their immunity gets "refreshed" that way as well.
- Thanks for clarification, my question was indeed missing the point, that 2 vaccinations are recommended.
  I am asking, because we have a wave right now and I see people, which most likely are vaccinated (or I know got their two shoots in the past), get sick for one or two weeks.
  Please allow my follow up questions:
  Flue shoots are kind of free for all in my country (Germany), even if people are vaccinated and they also get refreshed every so often by the real thing (right now we have a flue wave in children) - is there a reason why there is a difference between flue shoots and covid shoots?
  From the individual point of view, is there any reason not to get a covid shoot, especially when the person already got vaccinated in the past?
  Is the benefits of further vaccinations vs. the risks a monetary/effort evaluation or a medical one?
  
  Flue shoots are kind of free for all in my country (Germany), even if people are vaccinated and they also get refreshed every so often by the real thing (right now we have a flue wave in children) - is there a reason why there is a difference between flue shoots and covid shoots?
  Technically, there isn't. The flu vaccine is also only recommended for older people and people with chronic illnesses. It's true though that it's easier to get the flu shot than the Covid shot outside of the official recommendation. I'm not sure why that's the case.
  From the individual point of view, is there any reason not to get a covid shoot, especially when the person already got vaccinated in the past?
  If you've had your 3 shots and had Covid semi-recently, there probably just isn't much of a benefit to getting it. I personally decided to get a fourth shot, due to never having had Covid and I was planning to go on a longer trip where I didn't want to get sick. But I never bothered getting a 5th or 6th.
  Is the benefits of further vaccinations vs. the risks a monetary/effort evaluation or a medical one?
  I'd say medical, as the state is actually losing money right now, with many doses expiring due to low demand.

I am in Canada and I can and do get one every six months. The least risk the better. People minimize COVID now but it's still really a bad thing.

Canadian here, my province asks that everyone get their yearly flu and covid vaccines, both of which are available for free in any pharmacy.
- Thanks a lot for the information! Damn, Canada really deserves its great reputation! :-)
  
  I certainly think so! Though admittedly, I, like many Canadians, am feeling all extra patriotic given America's threats and bullshit.)

I guess COVID has been deescalated to not being as serious as it once was mainly because most parts of the world have been effectively vaccinated and thus the virus has become less potent. This has been done at different rates across the world but at least here in Denmark it has not been considered a socially critical virus since early 2022
We dont test for it any more and doctors sinply consider COVID as a flue type.
Facemasks are also a rare thing here and if you do see them it's assumed it used by people who are especially vulnerable. That said, even people with respiratory deficiencies don't use facemasks any more.
So all in all I guess it would be irrelevant at this point. Maybe some countries are a bit behind in this progress but it seems like COVID is declining into a regula flue, if it hasn't already
- Thanks, one follow up question: In Germany (where I live), for flue vaccinations, it is kind of 'free for all', at my work place they even send doctors to vaccinate the employees (who are willing to take it).
  This is the confusing point for me, as in Denmark, covid is treated like a flue by now. So why is there the difference between the recommendation between covid shoots and flue shoots?
  
  What type of work do you do? Do you get in contact with people who are sensitive to flue infections? Here too, you are offered a flue (and pneumonia) vaccine, if you work with people who have a higher chance of complications if they get infected.
  In general offices and industry, I guess it is an economic consideration. Pay to have your workers vaccinated, and avoid losing revenue/production due to sickness.

23 comments