Florence, 12 May 2022 – Vaccines, fourth dose: the councilor for the right to health of Tuscany Simone Bezzini relaunches the invitation of the Ministry of Health, addressed in particular to some segments of the population more fragile “by age or by concomitant and pre-existing pathologies”.
“I strongly recommend to over 80 and people with high frailty – says Bezzini – aged 60 or over to strengthen the anti-Covid protection with the administration of the fourth dose, especially in these weeks, in which obligations, prohibitions and restrictions are disappearing and elderly people are also rightly returning to social life”.
“Even if the impact on health facilities in terms of hospitalizations and death data are contained thanks to the success of the vaccination campaign – continues Bezzini – the virus still circulates with significant numbers of infections. With the fourth dose, the level of individual protection takes a decisive leap forward. In countries where the fourth dose has been administered for some time, studies have been carried out, which have shown that in the elderly population, vaccination with the fourth dose determines protection against severe forms of infection tripled compared to that conferred by the third dose “.
How to do the fourth dose
Over eighty
People aged 60 or over, with high frailty motivated by concomitant / pre-existing pathologies
When to take the fourth dose
- it is carried out four months after the third dose
- those who contracted Sars-CoV-2 infection after the third dose are excluded
The vaccination campaign continues for everyone
The vaccination campaign continues for all other citizens, to whatever category and age group they belong. The health authorities reiterate, in fact, the importance of putting in maximum protection all subjects, who have not yet received the third dose, as well as those who have never undertaken the primary vaccination cycle.
The administration of the fourth doses to RSA guests is also underway, managed by general practitioners, in agreement and integration with the ASL.
The administration of the fourth vaccine dose is also strongly recommended to all subjects with markedly impaired immune response (for reasons related to the underlying disease, to pharmacological treatments or because they have undergone solid organ transplantation) for which the administration of the fourth dose must be considered equivalent to the first booster dose, given that for them the primary vaccination cycle consists of three instead of in two doses. It is the task of the Reference Centers of the specialized structures of the health companies (territorial and hospital-university, which are responsible for the management of the person’s clinical path) to provide for the direct call of patients with the required requisites. Vaccination is carried out in hospital, in outpatient settings or in specialist centers. If the subject is being treated at extra-regional specialist centers or is in other particular conditions, he or she can contact the single regional number 800-556060.