COVID hospital admissions are rising – and health bosses believe it’s due to waning immunity among the elderly.
It comes ahead of a vaccine booster programme in the spring, when the most vulnerable will be getting their fourth dose.
The weekly total of hospital admissions (8,763) is up by 11.1 per cent, the Government dashboard shows.
It’s only a small uptick, and a trend which may not continue.
However, most of those being admitted are older patients, a source involved in the government’s pandemic response told The i.
Scotland, Wales, and all seven regions in England are seeing an increase in the number of Covid patients coming through the door.
In South West England, daily admissions are higher now (155) than at the January Omicron peak (139).
South East England hospitals are seeing another 200 patients each day – the same as the start of January, when an Omicron surge occurred.
Experts do not believe that a new and more serious variant is behind the trend.
A growth in hospital cases usually follows that of infections with a lag of around two weeks.
But reported case numbers have been stable and declining for several weeks. Only yesterday, the daily Covid cases were higher than usual.
A significant reduction in testing is likely to have had an impact on the collection of data on case numbers – when fewer people are tested, fewer cases are found.
Meanwhile, hospital data collection would not have been impacted, and may now be a better signal of the epidemic.
One expert said the increase in admissions is likely due to waning immunity and a growth in infections due to the BA.2 Omicron variant.
While BA.2 (sister of BA.1, which caused the Christmas and New Year wave) is no more severe, it does spread faster, officials say.
This can lead to an increase in hospital admissions by default.
Waning immunity
Given that it’s been seven months since the booster vaccine programme began, there will now be elderly and vulnerable people whose Covid immunity has waned.
The booster vaccine is the only way to protect against the Omicron variant, as two doses are almost ineffective.
But inevitably some immunity will drop off as time passes, leaving people more at risk of severe Covid.
The hospital data will fuel the Government to hasten the spring booster programme, which was announced in February.
Health chiefs confirmed vulnerable Brits will get another booster in spring – as long as six months had passed since their last top-up.
It means some people will already be eligible for their “fourth dose”, having had their third in September.
But there are no obvious plans to offer the spring jabs any time soon.
NHS said invites will start going out from April.
The spring booster programme will cover those over the age of 75, care home residents, and those over 12 who are immunosuppressed.
Around 7.2 million people in the UK will be eligible for the extra spring booster.
Experts said the programme was to get ahead of the drop off in immunity levels, and keep the most at risk remain fully protected.
