The fourth dose of covid vaccine is not needed for now. The third booster dose guarantees high protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron variant in older people. This is the fact that is underlined in Great Britain by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, the consultancy committee of the London government on vaccines. The panel refers to information released by the Health Security Agency, the UK Health Security Agency. Three months after the third dose of the vaccine, protection from hospitalization risk remains around 90% for those over 65. The difference with respect to ordinary vaccination is evident: 3 months after the second dose, the protection drops to 70%. At 6 months, it reaches 50%. In light of these data, the JCVI recommended that the government continue to favor the third booster dose for all adults – as evidenced by the Guardian – and to freeze any fillings related to the administration of the fourth dose to over 80s or to RSA guests.
“Current data show that the dose booster continues to ensure high levels of protection against severe disease, even for the most elderly and vulnerable groups,” said Professor Prof Wei Shen Lim, president of the JCVI. “For this reason, the committee came to the conclusion that there is no immediate need to introduce a second booster dose, even if the issue will continue to be monitored,” he added, highlighting the importance of proceeding with the vaccination campaign to counter the Omicron variant.
The words of Professor Wei Shen Lim come a few days after those uttered by Stephane Bancel. For the CEO of Moderna, with Pfizer one of the two producers of the mRna vaccine, the fourth dose will probably become necessary in the autumn of 2022. The effectiveness of the booster dose is destined to decrease over the months, as happened after the 2 doses of the ordinary course of vaccination. “I would be surprised to receive data in the coming weeks that the” booster dose “held well over time. I would expect it to not hold up well,” Bancel said at an event organized by Goldman Sachs.
Several countries, including Great Britain and South Korea, are already ordering vaccine doses for a fourth round. “I believe we will need booster doses in the fall of 2022 and beyond,” he says, alluding to the need for annual boosters for the elderly and frail. “We said that, according to our beliefs, this virus will not go away. We will have to live with it,” adds the CEO.
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