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Who and when will have to get the third dose? Speculation on this continues, especially with the spread of the more contagious Delta variant. However, there are still more questions than answers. Should I do an antibody test before? How to organize the entire campaign of additional vaccinations? We discussed this with Dr. hab. Tomasz Dzieiątkowski, a virologist from the Medical University of Warsaw.
- The third dose of the vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech strongly increases protection against the Delta variant of the coronavirus, the producer of this preparation announced at the end of July
- The Delta variant almost completely dominates in the USA and many European countries, in Poland it is responsible for over 80 percent. cases
- An additional dose of the preparation seems to be a necessity, especially in the case of people at risk
- For today, I am skeptical about the third dose in the near future – said Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski recently
- The virologist tells you who may need the third dose and how it should be done
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage.
Third dose of COVID-19 vaccine – when and for whom?
The third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine – more and more countries are thinking about this solution. From the beginning of August in Israel, additional vaccination was offered to people over 60 years of age. In September in Germany, a third dose will be offered to seniors and immunocompromised people. A similar solution will be introduced in Sweden, in addition, in this country next year such vaccination will cover the majority of the population.
Is the Polish government doing anything towards the third dose? «For today I am skeptical about the third dose any time soon. I need to know serious arguments that we are pursuing the interests of patients, not pharmaceutical companies “, said Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski recently in an interview with” Wprost “.
UPDATE:
On Thursday, August 5, the health minister presented a new position on the third dose.
“The Medical Council recommends giving the third dose of the vaccine to the most vulnerable groups,” Niedzielski said in an interview with RMF.
«There is no research all the time that would show an increase in effectiveness, that is, a certain added value resulting from the collision with new mutations of the virus. Until studies show that the third dose, which probably would have to be modified without being a simple repetition, would be better than at the moment to protect against new mutations – it can be said that the added value of such an operation is very small »- added the minister.
However, he recalled his doubts from a few days ago. “I am trying to weigh how much there is added value for public health, and how much is in the interest of pharmaceutical companies that want to sell more” – he stressed.
More and more specialists in Poland are talking about the need to administer an additional dose, in the first place, to people at risk.
«It cannot be ruled out that this response will begin to disappear after some time. It will definitely not be a period of 3-4 months – as we had assumed at the beginning. We can already see that this period will be much longer. Then it may actually be necessary to vaccinate at least people at risk. But that is an issue we still need to clear up. The World Health Organization recommends collecting more data »- said prof. Krzysztof Pyrć in an interview with PAP.
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Dr. hab. of medical sciences Tomasz Dzieiątkowski, a virologist and microbiologist from the Medical University of Warsaw. That is: an additional dose, first for people at risk and with weakened immunity, and in the future – not yet specified – all willing, similar to the seasonal flu vaccination.
A future booster for all comers
Adrian Dąbek, MedTvoiLokony: Is the booster dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine will it be necessary?
Dr hab. Tomasz Dzieiątkowski: There are very few vaccinations that do not require booster doses. These include the vaccine against tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis A, although this is not mandatory and against HPV, where there are three doses. However, most vaccinations require booster doses – against tetanus, against diphtheria and pertussis. We also take flu booster doses every year. And most likely, a booster dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines will be needed, but it is not yet known in what time interval.
So the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine will actually become seasonal?
Most likely, yes, the only question is – will it be necessary every year or every 18 months, or maybe every 24 months. We don’t know that yet. We know, however, that in people who do not have an adequate immune response, this mainly applies to seniors or people after transplantation and undergoing chemotherapy, it is suggested that they will need a second booster dose, which is exactly what is being said about the third dose.
On the other hand, the term “third dose” is not entirely correct, at least according to the current Summary of Product Characteristics. The full scheme, in the case of mRNA vaccines, consists of two doses, so we should not talk about the third dose, but about the second boost for people who are “selected”, ie those whose immune response is not entirely correct.
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This third dose won’t be for everyone?
Booster doses every year or 18 months will probably be necessary for everyone, of course those who want to get vaccinated. And since studies have shown that in some seniors, in some people after transplantations or undergoing chemotherapy, this response is not sufficient after two normal doses, they began – as part of an experiment – to give an additional buster, of course, this applies to the Pfizer vaccine. In both seniors and transplant recipients, the second booster dose was usually very beneficial and stimulated a high immune response. Therefore, here I can say from experience, because on Monday there was a meeting of the transplant council at the Senate and it was postulated there that for people after transplantation free, validated tests for the level of antibodies after vaccination would be recommended and for people who would have low status, give another, second booster dose.
Some countries are already introducing additional doses.
Israel started doing it, but for seniors. And here we have two groups: one is seniors as particularly vulnerable and people who do not develop this answer at the appropriate level or this answer drops too quickly. The second group at particular risk is cancer and post-transplant patients, who, due to the administration of various drugs, do not develop this response at the correct level, and they should also be given an additional dose.
- Have you been infected with COVID-19 and are worried about the side effects? Check your health by performing a comprehensive test package for convalescents.
But I believe that it is better to check it first, because it may turn out that not every senior has a too low immune response, so not everyone would need to be vaccinated.
So everyone would have to have their antibody levels checked first.
It would have to be checked, but – this needs to be emphasized – it would have to be checked with a validated test, which is designed to detect the level of antibodies after vaccination (there are already such tests), in appropriate laboratories, and not after guerrilla, on the basis that I will go to the laboratory commercial, where it will not be fully known what test it is done. Hence, it should be somewhat centrally or at least centrally directed. So we have specific points where tests are performed for special exposure groups. And if a person has the right level of antibodies, thank you and say that everything is fine. And if someone is too low, we invite her to take an additional dose
So all this should not be done on the basis of a simple move.
A simple kick-off could, especially for our limping healthcare system, cost too much. And thus – it would not make sense. Better to schedule it so that it has arms and legs. And it did, indeed, apply to those who are at risk.
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The Polish government has not yet shown the initiative to administer the third dose. What would you recommend in such a situation?
First of all, I would suggest that the government really start listening to professionals and not advisers by God’s grace. There are many scientific papers on the effectiveness of vaccines, but the problem is that the Scientific Council at the government issues its positions, there are competent people there, similar to the COVID-19 committee at the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, but hardly anyone listens to their recommendations. This is a really serious problem.
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.
It’s a shame of consolation, but similar things happened last year in the UK where Boris Johnson was making very nervous moves and at the very beginning of the pandemic he said that the British population would acquire herd immunity through disease, and then, when he was on oxygen therapy, he changed it. opinion. He’s also doing weird things right now, especially regarding social distancing. But there is a higher vaccination rate than in Poland, so this kind of movement can be made. An even worse example was the United States under Donald Trump’s administration, but that has changed fortunately.
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