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While some experts question the need for the booster dose a month after infection, others allude to "scientific evidence" as a fundamental reason for inoculating the third vaccine.
"Those under 65 years of age who have been infected with coronavirus will receive their third dose four weeks after being diagnosed and as long as five months have passed after completing the regimen." It is the last one update of the published vaccination strategy by Ministry of Health, despite which, the confusion among the infected Whether or not it is advisable to receive a booster dose after the established time increases as infections continue to escalate.
This uncertainty, added to the fact that many citizens who would have to be inoculated with the third dose, are infected, are two of the factors that have meant that Spain go from being at the head of Europe during the first phase of the vaccination campaign, at the bottom of the ranking with the reinforcement. Only 13,3% of the population, according to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has been inoculated with the third vaccine compared to the 45,3% who have already done so in France, for example.
Data extrapolated to our community, where according to the Transparency portal of the government of Aragon while as of January 20, 2022, there had been A total of 1.106.944 second dose vaccines have been administered, with the booster dose the figure drops to 505.408.
"The protocol states that we must wait, at a minimum, four weeks until the third dose. Established time that can be delayed due to different factors, but that It has changed -Let us remember that when the vaccination campaign began you had to wait six months to be inoculated with the first dose, compared to the current month-, due to scientific evidence"explains Inma Cuesta.
"As the disease progresses, the dynamics change., and this evidence makes it clear that when someone already vaccinated becomes infected, they achieve hybrid immunity that does not guarantee 100% protection against the virus. That's why it is important to get the third dose"says Cuesta.
However, some experts such as Juan José Badiola, director of the Center for Encephalopathies and Emerging Communicable Diseases of the University of Zaragoza, They question the usefulness of this booster dose. "After vaccination, an omicron infection is like a new dose, but more complete, because we are not only exposed to a part of the virus, as with the injection, but to all its antigens. Weeks later the body has antibodies effective for at least three or four months, time that, in my opinion, would be advisable to take the next dose," says Badiola.
However, the expert insists that "The deadlines established by Health must be met", although according to his criteria, "it would be more effective to vaccinate earlier those who have not been infected and those who live in impoverished countries, which is where the greatest danger exists."
Children, infections and vaccination
Controversy also arose around the vaccination of children under 12 years of age, which has meant that some of them have not been able to get vaccinated even with the first dose because the infection arrived earlier than the corresponding vaccine due to their age.
In these cases, the protocol states that those who already have the first puncture, once infected, They must wait four weeks, like adults, so that they click for the second time. Meanwhile, the infected minors not vaccinated, after the established time, You will only have to take one dose.
Which is the reason? "If a child with a dose becomes ill, it is because the vaccine has not had the effect it should have.. That is why we consider it necessary to inoculate it a second time so that the protection is effective", explains Inma Cuesta. "In the case of those little ones still Without vaccination they will only need a puncture after infection. That is, the covid and, subsequently, a vaccine, sufficiently protect the minor as in the case of, in this order, a first vaccine, contagion, and second dose," Cuesta argues.
This argument is not shared by Juan José Badiola, who estimates thatThe virus response in children "is even more powerful than in adults". "The infection acts as a substitute for the second dose. It is more important to vaccinate all uninfected minors than those who have recently had the disease," says the expert. However, he insists, "The opinion of the Ministry of Health is always the one that must prevail"concludes Badiola.
Source: El Heraldo de Aragón
