The September Covid Jab

[Maiden Stone]

It boosts the immune system response to what - Omicron original which is no longer circulating.
Is there any evidence to show that it is effective against the latest couple of variants?

 (JCVI) updated statement on the Covid-19 vaccination programme for autumn 2022
Section headed "Future variants and vaccines"
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/

More from that section:

"Omnicron sub-lineage variants will most likely continue to circulate in winter 2022-2023, although the emergence of new variants of concern cannot be discounted due to the unpredictability of virus evolution. Studies of variant-specific vaccines are ongoing. Whether variant vaccines will provide greater protection against severe COVID-19 compared to original strain vaccines has not yet been determined and will be influenced by the variant virus that is circulating at the time of vaccination. Advice regarding which vaccines to use .... will be provided in due course.

Rapid vaccine response measures may be required, should there be substantial changes in population immunity against the dominant circulating variant, including any new variant of concern. The maintenance of sufficient surge capability to enable a proportionate response to emergent circumstances is an integral component of the autumn booster programme."

More information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/search/all
Select Coronavirus from All topics list, then Vaccinations from Sub-topics list, then select Updated and filter by entering dates in boxes.

[River Tyne Lass]

I agree with Roobarb, Erato, Pauline and Gadget too.
I had symptoms when I had covid recently.  I have had jabs and booster and I got these with the hope that if I did get covid (as I have done) I would not end up in hospital or dead.   
I wasn't that ill - just a bit of a headache, pressure feeling in eyes and a bit of a cough so I would say the jabs have been effective and worth having for me - things might have been worse.
I do intend to defer to the experts on this and if another booster is offered I will certainly be going for it.

[aghadowey]

I agree with Roobarb, Erato, Pauline and Gadget too.  ...

Me too. Youngest daughter has had 4 jabs due to being considered clinically extremely vulnerable. She recently felt unwell on a Wednesday and every home test came back negative until the Sunday although she was getting progressively worse each day until then. She happened to be off that week so self-isolated to be on the safe side and didn't go out for 10 days until she got a clear test result. I think she would have been far worse without those jabs.

[Maiden Stone]

I do intend to defer to the experts on this and if another booster is offered I will certainly be going for it.

As will I.

[Pheno]

Not quite sure how there can be experts if nobody has ever been in this situation before.

Pheno

[Erato]

Um, the experts are infectious disease specialists, virologists and epidemiologists who have long experience with infectious diseases, viruses and epidemics.  They are people who know what questions to ask, what evidence to look for, how to look for it, and what it likely means. Sort of like an expert genealogist who is able to provide valuable insights into the Nevitts of Cheshire without ever having confronted that specific situation before.

[Gadget]

I wish there was a 'like' box on Rootschat ,as I would certainly do a 'like' for your comment, Erato.

[Maiden Stone]

Not quite sure how there can be experts if nobody has ever been in this situation before.

COVID-19 experts are those people who have been studying, researching, trialling and working in the field for almost 3 years.
I wouldn't agree that none of those experts has been in this situation before. COVID-19 is SARS-CoV-2. There was an outbreak of SARS-CoV-1 from 2002-2004 and MERS in 2003. Both SARS-CoV-1 and MERS were coronavirus diseases which were new to humans. COVID-19 is a viral zoonosis. Other viral zoonosis diseases include ebola and monkeypox. Immunologists &c learn from and build on knowledge gained from past epidemics.

Errato has explained it succinctly.

   

[Pheno]

Um, the experts are infectious disease specialists, virologists and epidemiologists who have long experience with infectious diseases, viruses and epidemics.  They are people who know what questions to ask, what evidence to look for, how to look for it, and what it likely means. Sort of like an expert genealogist who is able to provide valuable insights into the Nevitts of Cheshire without ever having confronted that specific situation before.

They might never have encountered the Nevitts of Cheshire previously but it is quite likely that they have studied the Nevitts of Staffordshire so have a good working knowledge. 

Nobody has enountered Covid 17 or Covid 18 previously so does not have a good working knowledge of Covid 19.

My main query really is not about having a further immunisation per se (have not had any side effects from previous ones) but I don't want to jump forward for a further one of the same old same old, which might prevent the administration of a more appropriate one against the current (and future) variations if only I had waited a few months.

Pheno