Covid misinformation 'cabal' attacked by councillor in Northumberland County Council committee

Cllr Dodd was quizzing Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s executive medical director Alistair Blair at a meeting of Northumberland County Council’s health and wellbeing overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday.

He said: “We all know that there is a cabal who think lots of things that they have gleaned off the internet, that they are all going to be poisoned.

“When you talk to one or two of them it is unbelievable. Even the planes above are dropping particles that are going to take over your body.

“What percentage is there that will not be vaccinated or are in the cabal that are very anti-vax?”

Dr Blair explained that the region had very high vaccine uptake and that future doses of the jab would be targeted at people more at risk, who also had higher take-up than other groups.

He added: “I think we will see a higher uptake then if it was open to the general population. We are just about to launch the spring boosters.

“My reading of the situation is that after this spring, Covid boosters will be an annual thing with flu jabs.

"Current strains of Covid along with the vaccines mean we are not seeing anything like the previous mortality rates.”

According to a vaccine surveillance report from the UK Health Security Agency published last April, booster vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation for people aged 18 to 64 peaks at 82%.

In addition, boosters’ effectiveness against death from the dominant Omicron variant has been estimated at 95% two or more weeks after the booster.