Fourth dose, what the circular from the Ministry of Health says about vaccines
Age, timing and dosage. Here is what the circular of the Ministry of Health foresees on the fourth dose
After the first advances last week provided by the head of vaccine strategy of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Marco Cavaleri, and the pressure of experts not to abandon vaccinations during the current Omicron wave, yesterday arrived the recommendations from the European institutions and the Ministry of Health immediately issued a circular with all the information on the fourth dose or second booster.
WHO SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED THE FOURTH DOSE ACCORDING TO EMA AND ECDC
In April, both Ema and Ecdc had recommended the fourth dose to all people aged 80 and over, but given the increase in infections in recent weeks due to the strong transmissibility of Omicron and in particular its sub-variants Ba.4 and Ba .5, the relaxation of measures and thestalled vaccination campaign , both agencies believe that a second booster is also important for people between 60 and 79 years and for all those who are vulnerable regardless of age.
In a joint note they wrote: “As a new wave is currently underway in Europe, with increasing rates of hospitalization and intensive care unit admissions, it is imperative that public health authorities now consider people aged between 60 and 79 , as well as vulnerable people of any age for a second recall ".
On the other hand, no indications have been given for the administration of the fourth dose to healthcare professionals and RSA personnel.
HOW LONG DOES HAVE TO BE ELAPSED?
Ema and Ecdc explained in their recommendation that vaccines can be administered at least four months after the last vaccination, with particular attention to people who have already received a booster for more than 6 months.
AND THE UPDATED VACCINES?
As many experts, including Cavaleri, argued, it is a priority to use the vaccines already available without waiting for the updated ones , which should arrive at the end of September as regards the new preparations against Omicron 1, while there is even talk of winter for those updated to Omicron 4. and 5 – which, however, may have meanwhile been replaced by a new variant or sub-variant.
It is therefore useless to wait. This is why Ema and Ecdc reiterated that "currently authorized vaccines continue to be highly effective in reducing hospital admissions for Covid-19, serious illnesses and deaths in the context of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2".
THE OPINION OF THE EU
There is no time to waste even according to European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides: “With cases and hospitalizations on the rise as we enter the summer period, I urge everyone to get vaccinated and get stronger as soon as possible. There is no time to lose. I call on the Member States to immediately issue a second recall for all those over 60 and all vulnerable people and I urge all those who have the right to come forward and get vaccinated. This is how we protect ourselves, our loved ones and our vulnerable populations ”.
WHAT HOPE SAID
The Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, who wanted an opinion from the European authorities on the fourth dose in order not to create confusion in the population , immediately accepted the opinion of the agencies: "The ECDC and EMA have opened the administration of the fourth dose of vaccine also to people over 60 years. Already today we will adapt our guidelines, circulars and indications to this determination. We will immediately open the administration of the fourth dose to people over 60 on our territories. Woe to think that the battle against Covid is won, it is still ongoing and we must keep a level of attention and prudence ".
THE CIRCULAR
In the circular issued by the ministry it is written that "taking into account both the current condition of increased viral circulation with the resumption of the epidemic curve, associated with an increase in the occupancy of beds in medical areas and, to a lesser extent, in intensive care, available evidence on the effectiveness of the second booster dose in preventing severe forms of Covid sustained by the most circulating variants, in compliance with the principle of maximum precaution, it is recommended to administer a second booster dose "for all over 60s and frail over 12 starting at least 120 days after the third dose or the last post-booster infection.
The dosage of Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna mRna vaccines for the fourth dose will be the same as for the first booster.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/quarta-dose-cosa-dice-la-circolare-del-ministero-della-salute-sui-vaccini/ on Tue, 12 Jul 2022 10:45:48 +0000.