Emilia-Romagna ready. From Monday 20 September if you leave with the third dose of Covid-19 vaccine: people belonging to the categories for which the administration is foreseen will not have to do anything, because they will be contacted directly by the companies sanitary. The first calls have already started.
To define the recipients of the third dose is a circular from the Ministry of Health, which was followed today by one communication from the department Regional Health Policy, which clarified additional operational aspects to healthcare companies.
I am two cases for which the third dose of the vaccine is scheduled, with different timing of administration: to complete the primary vaccination course, because in these circumstances an additional dose it is considered necessary to ensure an adequate level of immune response in a population at severe risk of Covid-19; or – and in this case it speaks of booster dose or booster – to carry out a booster after the primary vaccination course has already been completed, with the aim of maintaining an adequate level of immune response over time.
The additional dose should be administered after at least 28 days from the last and is addressed primarily to transplanted and immunocompromised subjects, including for example patients with oncological or onco-haematological pathology in treatment with immunosuppressive drugs, myelosuppressive drugs in treatment and up to 6 months from the suspension of treatment, or people on dialysis and with severe chronic renal failure.
As indicated in the circular, the current evidence on Covid-19 vaccines in subjects undergoing solid organ transplantation or with marked impairment of the immune response for causes related to the disease or pharmacological treatments that have already completed the primary vaccination course, show a significant benefit in terms of immune response following administration of an additional dose of vaccine. It is also clarified that the pathological conditions of recipients of the additional dose may be updated in the future, based on the scientific evidence available.
The dose booster or recall instead it goes administered after at least six months from the last administration and is intended for people at increased risk of developing severe disease from frail conditions (such as the elderly or those hospitalized in the RSA) ed possibly to healthcare professionals depending on the level of exposure to the virus. The third dose in these cases serves to maintain an adequate level of immune response over time.
The ministerial circular also specifies that, without prejudice to the priority of achieving high vaccination coverage with the completion of the currently authorized cycles, the strategy for administering a booster dose with m-Rna vaccine in favor of further target groups, taking into account the scientific evidence and the evolution of the epidemiological scenario.
Considering the indications provided by the Aifa Technical Scientific Commission, if the same vaccine used for the primary cycle is not available, it is possible to use it as additional dose one of the two m-Rna vaccines authorized in Italy: Comirnaty di BioNTech / Pfizer in citizens aged 12 and over and Spikevax di Moderna in individuals aged 18 and over
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