Covid-19 vaccines and vaccinations

Engineers transform dental floss into needle-free vaccine

New method places inactivated viruses directly into mice’s gums

Floss-based vaccination targets the gingival sulcus for mucosal and systemic immunization

Abstract​

The oral cavity is an accessible site for vaccination, but its sublingual and buccal sites have limited vaccine uptake. Here we show that flat tape dental floss can deliver vaccines through the junctional epithelium of the gingival sulcus, exploiting its naturally leaky properties. Floss-based vaccination delivered protein, inactivated virus, peptide-presenting immunogenic nanoparticles and messenger RNA. In mice, gold nanoparticles functionalized with a peptide derived from the ectodomain of the transmembrane matrix 2 protein of human influenza virus stimulated local lymph nodes, increased CD4+T cells in lymph nodes, lungs and spleen, and boosted antibody-secreting cells in the bone marrow. Floss-based immunization induced strong and sustained immune activation across multiple organs, robust systemic and mucosal antibody responses, and durable protection against lethal influenza infection, independent of age, food and liquid consumption. Floss-based vaccination was superior to sublingual and comparable with intranasal vaccination. In human participants, fluorescent dye delivered via floss picks effectively reached gingival sulcus, supporting clinical feasibility.
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These findings establish floss-based vaccination as a simple, needle-free strategy that enhances vaccine delivery and immune activation compared with existing mucosal immunization methods.
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Mij said:
Engineers transform dental floss into needle-free vaccine

New method places inactivated viruses directly into mice’s gums

Floss-based vaccination targets the gingival sulcus for mucosal and systemic immunization
Click to expand...

Any sort of oral/nasal vaccine tends to have very poor efficacy in humans. The hype about 'mucosal vaccines' tends to not result in real world efficacy but there might be some value using intramuscular vaccine first and an oral/nasal vaccine a month or two later as the boost.
 
From the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at University of Minnesota:

Study finds no safety issues with most recent mRNA COVID vaccines
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy said:
At a time when federal officials are calling into question the safety and necessity of COVID-19 vaccines, the mRNA COVID vaccine version used this past season showed no elevated risk of any of the 29 serious adverse events that researchers in Denmark assessed.

The nationwide cohort study, published this week in JAMA Network Open, included 1,585,883 people (54% female), of whom 1,012,400 (64%) received the updated mRNA COVID vaccines containing the JN.1 lineage.

The scientists included all people eligible last season to receive the vaccine—everyone 65 or older and anyone in a high-risk group—who had already received three or more COVID vaccine doses.

No increased risk of 29 adverse events

The investigators assessed for serious side effects for 28 days after vaccine receipt.

"We analyzed 29 adverse outcomes adapted from prioritized lists of adverse events of special interest to COVID-19 vaccines," they wrote. "Each adverse event was analyzed separately."
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Merged thread

The Government is to deny six million pensioners Covid jabs this winter.

The rollout will be restricted to only the most vulnerable groups, and the vaccines will not be offered to NHS and care workers.

Only people over the age of 75, those living in care homes and others who are immunosuppressed will be eligible for free vaccines.
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This is not a recent decision but current ongoing policy.

I have been wondering as someone aged 67 whether on not I should be seeking out a private booster from the start of this year at least.

I recognise that I am probably not more at risk of catching Covid 19 than anyone else my age, indeed probably less because I see so few people, however I do feel that the risk of a significant deterioration in my ME/CFS should I catch it is something that government s should take into account.
 
There is some other weird thing going on in the UK with regards the shingles vaccination making some people only eligible over 70 but others over 65 or something(?)
eta:
this

Shingles vaccine​

A shingles vaccine is available on the NHS for:
  • people who turned 65 on or after 1 September 2023
  • people aged 70 to 79 who have not yet been vaccinated
  • people aged 50 and over with a severely weakened immune system
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If I didn’t have such bad reactions to the vaccine I’d be seeking how to get it. As I am trying with the flu vaccine.

It does seem a little nuts that people who want to get vaccinated can’t get. I suppose one argument is they had huge piles going to waste because the public chose to stop having them when there was wider availability.

JCVI do not seem to have used this in their modelling but they did base cost effectiveness on things like hospitalisation. Which of course excludes the various costs for those of us whose health deteriorates as @Peter T outlines and is narrower than the modelling they previously used

For the development of advice relating to COVID-19 vaccination from autumn 2025, JCVI has resumed the use of a standard cost-effectiveness assessment
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See the section “Background on JCVI methodology” here for more detail
www.gov.uk

JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026

www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
Sly Saint said:
There is some other weird thing going on in the UK with regards the shingles vaccination making some people only eligible over 70 but others over 65 or something(?)
eta:
this
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Even the GP practices seem to have trouble understanding this. When I was sixty six I asked for shingles vaccine as I had had my 65th birthday after the specified date and was told I was not eligible. However two months later I was invited by my GP to come in for the vaccination.

I have been lucky that I only seem to have short term effects from the various vaccinations I have had since the start of the pandemic. I had stopped having flu jabs some twenty five years ago, because they previously knocked me out for two or three weeks, but now I am fine with flue jabs which I resumed having in 2020.
 
It's also annoying that the vaccines aren't available year round. As I found when my last booster had run out (based on a 6 month time that I assumed was what was required) I went to book and, sorry, they had ended as of that day, in June as I recall. So, despite Covid not going away, year round, most will presumably not be protected for half the year now? Unless the dose has been up'd which it presumably hasn't. We're doomed.
 
Sly Saint said:
There is some other weird thing going on in the UK with regards the shingles vaccination making some people only eligible over 70 but others over 65 or something(?)
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It's only that they changed the eligibility from 70 to 65 in 2023.

People who were over 65 then but not yet 70 will have fallen into the gap. They might not have been expecting an invite until 70, but because of the change they're eligible now.

There are also people who're qualified but haven't taken it up, and they're eligible up to age 79. (I think they might be eligible beyond that at the discretion of their GP.)

Anyway, I hope you're feeling better soon! I found the pneumococcal vaccine a bit more heavy-handed than most. The GP forewarned me that people often report feeling washed out afterwards, so I didn't plan anything until I knew I was okay. In the end it was only a couple of days, so I hope it's no more for you.
 
We are eligible for the shingles vaccine in my province, but it's only free of charge from ages 65-70.

Can you pay out of pocket in the UK to get the shots if you want them?
 
Mij said:
Can you pay out of pocket in the UK to get the shots if you want them?
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Not at an NHS surgery. The only vaccinations GPs charge for are those against diseases not present in the UK, e.g. yellow fever.

But there are plenty of private clinics, so you can probably get them if you want to pay. People have already paid for their healthcare in their taxes, though, so not many are likely to do it for routine vaccinations. Statistically people under 65 aren't at particular risk of severe shingles symptoms, so they'll just wait.

ME/CFS is unusual in (a) having the potential for long term worsening to be triggered even by mild infections, and (b) that not being recognised by healthcare professionals. I started having 'flu jabs 20 years before I was eligible for the NHS programme, but only because my GP kept having to sign me off work for five months after getting 'flu. It made a good case for the practice covering the cost of a cheap vaccine.
 
If the protection offered is as weak now as it's portrayed by the JCVI, it might not be worth most people taking the risk of adverse vaccine effects.

There must come a point where it's quite a fine balance between the risk of the jab and the risk of the infection.
 
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