key: cord-0921767-6522hej8
authors: Donnelly, Seamas C
title: Should we ventilate elderly patients with COVID-19?
date: 2021-05-18
journal: QJM
DOI: 10.1093/qjmed/hcab080
sha: 626dcbf9696da2261d93460f89e64ba62b029a83
doc_id: 921767
cord_uid: 6522hej8

nan

Delaying the second vaccine dose during the pandemic-do not have a problem with that-maybe not Certain countries, most notable the United Kingdom, delayed giving the second dose of the vaccine-the strategy being that the first dose vaccine exerts a highly significant protective effect-therefore, we should prioritize giving the first vaccine to the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time. Consequently, the United Kingdom has an impressive percentage of its population given the first vaccine dose. Are there any potential downsides to this strategy? A Commentary piece by Dr's Humphreys and Godkin of Cardiff University define the potential risks of this strategy. In particular, they highlight (i) not fully vaccinating high-risk subjects in a timely fashion, leaving them potentially exposed in that 4-12-week window, (ii) if one dose is ineffectual or suboptimal, it may leave the individual at risk until the booster is given and (iii) partial protection may actually facilitate the SARS-CoV-2 virus to mutate in situ, escaping the weak immune responses and encourage vaccine-resistant virus variants, which could then spread.

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