Contents
The third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Poland is now given to people aged 50+ and medics. From November 2, this group will expand to include everyone over the age of 18. There are also people entitled to the so-called additional dose. What is the difference between a booster dose and an additional dose? Who can accept them and when? Who else should hold off? We explain.
- According to the recommendation of the Medical Council, the booster vaccine can be given to people with a properly functioning immune system over the age of 50 and medics who have direct contact with patients. The so-called an additional dose is given to people with weakened immunity
- From November 2, vaccination with a booster dose is to be extended to include people over 18 years of age
- A booster dose is recommended to be given at least six months after the second dose. According to Bartosz Fiałek, the six-month interval is the most appropriate and the safest
- Should survivors also have a booster vaccine six months after the second dose? Bartosz Fiałek believes that such people should be the last in the line. The doctor explains why
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Vaccinations against COVID-19. Who is the booster dose for and who is the booster dose?
Faced with new variants of the coronavirus, especially the more infectious Delta, and declining immunity some time after vaccination, more and more countries have decided to use the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Poland was also among them. Let us recall that in mid-September, the Medical Council (the auxiliary body of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki) issued a recommendation that the booster should be given to people over 50 years of age, as well as health care workers who have direct contact with patients.
A month later, the Medical Council recommended that a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine be given to all adults. Deputy Minister of Health Waldemar Kraska referred to this opinion: – From November 2, we want to extend the vaccination with a booster dose for everyone over 18 – he announced on October 25.
Vaccination is to be performed with Pfizer’s preparation, however, as the Deputy Minister of Health noted, “there are reports from abroad that it is possible to perform vaccination with a third dose of other preparations”. “We are waiting for the position of the Medical Council on this matter,” he said.
In addition to the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the so-called additional dose. It is important not to use these terms interchangeably. As the European Medicines Agency (EMA) reminds us, the additional dose is intended for people with a weakened immune system, the booster dose – for people whose immune system is functioning properly.
Therefore, the following persons are eligible for an additional injection:
- receiving active anti-cancer therapy
- after organ transplants receiving immunosuppressants or biological therapies
- after a stem cell transplant in the last two years
- with moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency syndromes
- with HIV infection
- currently treated with high doses of corticosteroids or other medications that may suppress the immune response
- chronically dialysed for renal failure.
Importantly, in people aged 18 years, it is recommended to use an mRNA vaccine (i.e. Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderny preparations) as an additional dose, and in children aged 12-17 only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The rest of the article under the video.
Third dose of COVID-19 vaccine. When is the best time to accept it?
As for the additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (the so-called intended for people with severely weakened immune systems), the EMA recommends that it be administered at least 28 days after taking the second dose.
Otherwise, it’s up to booster injection (for people with a normal immune system). Its administration may be considered at least six months after the second dose. This opinion was issued by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), part of the EMA, after reviewing the data for Pfizer-BioNTech. According to them, the increase in the level of antibodies was observed after a booster dose about six months after the second dose (in people aged 18-55 years).
– The choice of the time interval after six months is logical – says prof. Krzysztof J. Filipiak, Rector of the Medical University of Maria Skłodowskiej-Curie in Warsaw, cardiologist, specialist in internal diseases, hypertensiology and clinical pharmacology. – We already have observations about the maintenance of the effectiveness of vaccination protection for six – nine months – explains the specialist.
However, a question may be asked, is it better to take the third dose six months after the second dose, or maybe 10 months, or maybe even later? Dr. Bartosz Fiałek, a rheumatologist and promoter of medical knowledge, is of the opinion that the six-month interval is the most appropriate, the safest. – Research shows that the level of vaccine protection begins to decline as early as three months after the end of the full vaccination course. On the other hand, significantly reduced protection against mild COVID-19 phenomena occurs after about six months – explains the doctor.
It is also worth mentioning the situation of people who were vaccinated with a single-dose preparation of Johnson & Johnson. At the moment, all the recommendations given above are binding for them. On October 15, however, an advisory panel from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously approved the booster dose of the J&J vaccine. He recommended that everyone aged 18 and older admit her two months after the first. – We are waiting for J&J’s decision – said Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski, pediatrician, immunologist, coronavirus expert of the Supreme Medical Council. – At the moment, the company itself is starting to lean towards the fact that the vaccination schedule should be a two-dose. If this is registered, all vaccinated J&J will have to get a second dose, the specialist emphasizes.
Should vaccinated healers take the third dose?
The healed are also surely asking themselves questions about the third dose of the vaccine. Is a third dose necessary for people who have been infected with the coronavirus and have been vaccinated against COVID-19? Should they take it six months after the second dose? Bartosz Fiałek believes that such people should be the last in line for the booster dose.
Reason? The very disease itself can, in a sense and in a very simplified way, be treated as a dose of a vaccine. 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.
In general, people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have contracted the novel coronavirus infection should wait for the next dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Such an interpretation was published, inter alia, in the pages of Nature, Bartosz Fiałek said in WP. – So I would not recommend these people to take another dose of the vaccine, even if more than six months have passed since the end of the vaccination course – says the doctor. Most likely, however, vaccinated convalescents will have to rest. Bartosz Fiałek notes that «before that, the duration of the so-called hybrid immunity as a result of contracting COVID-19 and vaccination against COVID-19 ».
Do you want to test your COVID-19 immunity after vaccination? Have you been infected and want to check your antibody levels? See the COVID-19 immunity test package, which you will perform at Diagnostics network points.
You may be interested in:
- Fourth wave doctor: the virus has found poorly grafted areas, it is already multiplying there
- The Delta Plus variant is already in Poland. “There is no need to panic”
- “The fourth wave will be long and flat”. Here’s what awaits us [FORECAST]
The content of the medTvoiLokony website is intended to improve, not replace, the contact between the Website User and their doctor. The website is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Before following the specialist knowledge, in particular medical advice, contained on our Website, you must consult a doctor. The Administrator does not bear any consequences resulting from the use of information contained on the Website. Do you need a medical consultation or an e-prescription? Go to halodoctor.pl, where you will get online help – quickly, safely and without leaving your home.