I am being complacent but that wont come as a surprise. Might change my mind now Truss has gone as there is something to live for we hope.
1 Like
Do we have any news on whether the bi-variant vaccine is not sufficently protective against the earlier more severe variants?
I’m sure this was mentioned/wondered about in a press link I posted some time ago… but not found anything recently…
My 5th jab is due 16th November… and my pharmacist suggests I have the 5thcovid-standard… (not with the variants) … saying that it was better to leave the variant-jab for those who needed it due to their really, really poor health situation and the fact that the variant-jab is in shorter supply at the moment.
she reckoned I was more in need of a proven good-covid-fighting-jab … than the variants
more variant vaccine is on the way… so enough for everyone, eventually
A little night time story 
- EU regulations specify bivalent booster be given only to people who have at least had the two original vaccines.
- Explains the bivalent booster protects against both the original and mutated strains.
- The new booster is a bivalent vaccine, which means it contains two messenger RNA (mRNA) components of the coronavirus. Half of the vaccine targets the original strain, and the other half targets the [BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariant lineages, which are predicted to continue circulating
Soooo much reading! 
If you want even more, and dry as an old stick, The Lancet has a collection of papers.
1 Like
however… whether reading the blurb or not… I’d suggest folk visit the pharmacy and discuss… and get jabbed…
(@Susannah if you can locate the French blurb on the variant jab… I’d be much obliged… )
Does this help?
2 Likes
Still doesn’t protect against, only reduces the symptoms for some.
Pfizer had to admit their vaccines did not stop transmission or even reduce it. Whole covid passport was a sham but there you go.
1 Like
what stopped transmission was the mask, distancing and hygiene…
what stopped many deaths… by reducing severity… was the vaccination
thus by knowing which folk were vaccinated… plus masks etc… one could mix with a reasonable tranquillity…
3 Likes
I’m looking for the French reporting… and I’ve read it somewhere…
Itr’s kind of you to offer this link, but it’s “locked” from me… and it’s in English, so not the original I’m thinking of…
I’ll have another look-see for the French link tomorrow…
Bonjour Stella! Are these any help?
An excerpt:
Un vaccin bivalent est un vaccin qui comporte 2 valences. Une valence est la partie d’un vaccin correspondant à la protection contre un germe unique. Un vaccin bivalent protège contre 2 maladies ou 2 souches d’un même germe.
Les vaccins bivalents du Covid-19 agissent contre la souche initiale du coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 et contre le variant Omicron de ce virus et assurent ainsi une meilleure protection.
“ A bivalent vaccine is a vaccine that has 2 valences. A valence is the part of a vaccine corresponding to the protection against a single germ. A bivalent vaccine protects against 2 diseases or 2 strains of the same germ. Bivalent Covid-19 vaccines act against the initial strain of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus and against the Omicron variant of this virus and thus provide better protection.”
In conclusion, looks like the bivalent vaccine protects not only from two new variants but also from the original strain. The ‘classic’ first booster still gives protection but very little against the variants.
France has a sizeable stock of unexpired original vaccine and boosters that they would want to use.
If, after reading all this you think a bivalent booster will be better for you, I can recommend you look for a place on Doctolib. My local pharmacy offers and did not quibble when I booked for the bivalent but do insist on the 6 month gap since the last booster.
And, you are absolutely right (as always) about the mask and distancing. I lived through SARS in Hong Kong in 2003 and agree 100% - mask wearing is key to reducing spread.
1 Like
cheers… great stuff!!
I couldn’t seem to get anywhere much, yesterday…
problems with the internet kept leaving me wth a “blank” screen and a little thingy going round and round… aaargh.
“France has a sizeable stock of unexpired original vaccine and boosters that they would want to use.”
I had been wondering about this.
yep, it’s no secret… it’s been mentioned widely… there is a much smaller amount of the new vaccine available at the moment… although more orders have been placed.
As the omicron-variants are deemed (in the main) to be less aggressive to the ordinary person… and many folk don’t want the new-style vaccine anyway… it makes sense to use the “original” vaccine to keep ordinary folk up to date… and serve those “in need”… with the new recipe…
EDIT however, as we keep saying… folk should discuss with the pharmacy to get what they want/need.
1 Like
I’ve just come here @Stella because of recommended to on the recent thread and don’t know how I missed it, but 175 posts to read? 
So, if you will forgive me I’ll jump in right here. On collecting our flu jabs from the pharmacy the other day I asked if they did the covid jabs too. No, that is at the cabinet. RDV today for Fran and I at the cabinet, had the flu jabs but the doctor said no to the 5th covid and couldn’t tell me where but probably Perigueux 50 kms away. As he keeps offering to make home visits because of the difficulty of getting Fran to the surgery I find it extraordinary that that is all he could offer. When we got our first jabs for covid it was at our old cabinet after a complete runaround 3 departements by Doctorlib.
I find it strange that your pharmacy doesn’t know where/who is doing the covid jabs… normally pharmacies are a fount of knowledge…
but not surprised that the Doc said NO to the 5th jab… as you’ve only just got the flu jabs done.
Locally, they are leaving 2 weeks between flu and covid jabs…
1 Like
Quite right. Best not to stress your immunity with too many different things at the same time.
As for the doctors, seems they sign up to give Covid jabs at their own discretion and some do not want. Refrigeration issues for some.
Sorry you both got the wrong end of the stick, while we were having our flu jabs I asked him if we could get the covids here, later of course, not at the same time.
2 Likes