There has been a lot of talk lately about the need for a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine. While for the general population it seems that it is still relatively early to have a clear picture, in groups of patients who are more vulnerable the data are clearer. The professors of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Gikas Majorkinis and Thanos Dimopoulos (rector of EKPA) summarize these elements.
Boosting dose of vaccines in immunocompromised
In this group of patients it seems that there will be priority for booster dose and there are first indications that the antibody count against the spike protein will be used to decide on the booster dose. Although there is still insufficient data to correlate antibody levels with the expected protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection, the measurement of antibodies against the pin 28-42 days after completion of the last dose can be used as a decision guide for the booster dose.
Here the data is less clear and it will still take time to have sufficient data for the need for a booster dose. Evidence from the United Kingdom shows that the effectiveness of vaccines remains high even for Delta executive. However, What should be noted is that the strategy chosen in the UK was to delay the second tranche, which has the following two advantages, as reported by teachers:
- 1) Primary immunity is rapidly increasing in the population, achieving the first step of the immune wall faster and
- 2) delaying the second dose results in more mature and broader immune responses, as shown by years of studies in vaccine regimens and confirmed in the case of Covid-19 vaccines. The UK strategy provided faster population coverage at start-up as well as higher quality long-term vaccination coverage due to the second dose delay. The fact that recent studies in Israel have shown lower efficacy against the Delta mutation than,which in the UK is probably due to the delay of the second dose, although at present we have not seen the analysis of Israeli data published in a peer-reviewed journal, according to the professors of EKPA.
"There is no doubt that the booster dose several months later will induce immune reactions of greater range and potency.. This is what all vaccination studies in all vaccine regimens say and it is also verified by studies in these vaccines.. Whether this will be needed in the near future in the countries and vaccinated people who followed the classic scheme is expected to be clarified in the coming months.. A separate question mark is the recovered vaccinated, as it already appears that the quality of the immune response of the combination of natural disease and vaccine has a better profile than the classic vaccination regimens. End, we do not yet have sufficient data on booster doses to cover mutant strains, however, some believe that they will be necessary in the future given the virus' ability to mutate. ", emphasize the teachers.
Source: ethnos.gr
