Experts: This group should not take the third dose of the vaccine

Registration for supplementary vaccination against COVID-2 began on November 19. The third dose can now be vaccinated by all willing adults. However, there is a group that should not rush into adopting the so-called booster. They are healers. Both Polish and foreign specialists speak about the reasons.

1. The third dose of the vaccine, known as a “booster”, “booster” or “booster”, allows the immunity to drop over time to a baseline level, which is what it was after two weeks of full vaccination
2. So far, over 835 thousand people have accepted it in Poland. people
3. However, experts say, not everyone should get vaccinated a third time. I am talking about convalescents
4. The Ministry of Health has not officially informed about any restrictions
5. We asked the Ministry of Health for recommendations on this matter. The answer did not explain much
6. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Vaccinated convalescents – what is their antibody level?

There are more and more studies showing that people who first had coronavirus infection and then completed the full course of primary immunization against COVID-19 have an exceptionally high protection against infection.

In October, the British used data from the ZOE Covid Study app to calculate how the vaccinated recoveries performed compared with those who “only” got vaccinated.

The study found that two doses of AstraZeneki vaccine provided 71% protection against infection for up to six months after vaccination. The protection level rose to 90 percent. in people who previously tested positive for the virus.

For two doses of Pfizer vaccine, immunity was at 80% six months after vaccination. In convalescents, the level rose to 94 percent.

– These studies show that regardless of which preparation was administered, a COVID-19 infection prior to double vaccination means greater protection – said Prof. Tim Spector of Kings College London, lead author of the study.

French scientists, representing, inter alia, Universite de Paris, Universite Paris-Est Créteil or Instytut Pasteur. They showed that people vaccinated with the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 who had had the disease more strongly neutralized the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus compared to previously uninfected people.

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On the other hand, researchers from the Health and Science University in Oregon managed to show that the level of antibodies in people with hybrid immunity (i.e. obtained as a result of infection and vaccination) is several times higher than in those only vaccinated.

– If you do not belong to any of the groups qualified for booster vaccination yet, but you have had an infection and complete vaccination behind you, you should not worry, because your protection is at a very high level – said Prof. Spector.

Vaccinated healers do not need boosters

Many foreign experts believe that people who first got COVID-19 infection and then were vaccinated should not rush into taking the so-called boosters. They are extremely resistant to re-infection with the coronavirus, regardless of its variant.

However, researchers note that this enhanced protection applies to a combination when a coronavirus infection first occurred and that person was later vaccinated. The opposite is not known yet – vaccination first, then infection despite vaccination.

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– People who got infected with SARS-CoV-2 and then vaccinated are the last group that needs boosters. These people have already been exposed to the virus three times, Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University, told the Wall Street Journal. She also emphasized that COVID-19 infection is a more effective way of acquiring immunity, because the body in this case is in direct contact with the whole virus, not only its spine protein, as is the case with vaccination.

Similarly, Dr. Paul Offit, a virologist and an expert of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), believes. – People who got infected first and then vaccinated are victorious today. I would not urge such people to take an additional dose, because they have already taken it, contracting the coronavirus – he emphasized.

Vaccinated healers – triple vaccinations

We also hear voices that vaccinated convalescents have already been vaccinated after three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, so they should refrain from booster vaccinations.

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– It is said that people after contracting COVID-19 and taking the full course of vaccination against COVID-19 should postpone the decision to take a booster for the moment, because the naturally obtained immunity can be treated as one of the doses – he argued recently in an interview with Medonet Bartosz Fiałek, physician, rheumatologist, promoter of medical knowledge.

– Hence, it is not currently recommended to take the third dose by convalescents, so as not to overdo it the other way, because extremes are the most dangerous in science. Too frequent vaccination against COVID-19, as well as not vaccinating in general, can lead to great danger – emphasized Fiałek.

Prof. Sylwia Kołtan, national consultant for clinical immunology. Fully vaccinated healers have significantly higher antibody levels. They can be treated as triple vaccinated people, she said in an interview for PAP.

The third dose for convalescents – the position of the Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health has so far not officially mentioned any restrictions on survivors with booster doses. We asked the Ministry of Health if it shared the above-mentioned doubts and the experts’ recommendation. Unfortunately, apart from a reminder of the general rules for administering the third dose, we learned nothing new.

«National recommendations are based on a decision of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), expert opinion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Advisory Comimittee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Vaccinations in Poland are carried out by professional medical personnel (authorized persons qualifying for vaccinations), to whom the patient should raise doubts and questions regarding the recommendations and procedures before and after vaccination in the course of individual proceedings. The severity of the disease, its duration, the patient’s clinical condition, complications, comorbidities and any potentially immunosuppressive therapy should be taken into account when assessing the state of the patient’s immune system. At the same time, in case of doubts regarding the patient’s qualification for vaccination, they can be consulted with the national or provincial consultant, including referring the patient to a specialist consultation »- we read in the e-mail sent by the Ministry of Health Communications.

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“The booster dose should be given no earlier than 6 months after the completion of the full COVID-19 immunization regimen. A dedicated vaccine for the implementation of a booster vaccination is the Comirnata Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, regardless of the type of vaccine (Pfizer / AstraZeneca / Moderna / Johnson & Johnson) used previously during the primary vaccination dose I and II.

Taking the above into account, it should be noted that:

1. Booster dose – is given to vaccinated people (those who have completed the basic vaccination schedule against COVID-19) in order to improve, consolidate, extend protection after vaccination,
2. An additional supplementary dose – is administered to people with impaired immunity, whose immune response to vaccination may have been insufficient (administered in order to achieve optimal protection) »- informs the ministry.

Finally, the Ministry of Health reminds that “Information on the results of tests, adverse reactions to vaccination, vaccine composition and all information related to the use of vaccines against COVID-19, including age, indications, contraindications, action and efficacy of the vaccines is included in the respective Summary of Product Characteristics. , available on the website of the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products ».

Also read:

1. How long will the pandemic last? “The virus is heading towards weakness”
2. What happens after the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine? New data from Israel
3. The second dose of the vaccine “swept them”. Will they sign up for the third one?
4. COVID-19 can cause intellectual problems. What’s happening?
5. How many adverse reactions after vaccination against COVID-19? We have new data

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