The new vaccination campaign open to all over 12
But who can receive the new administration? After a first circular of 7 September which authorized the bivalent vaccines updated on Omicron 1 – in all the first tranche is 19 million doses – for the over 60s and frailties, on 23 September a new circular was signed which authorizes and makes available also vaccines for Omicron 4-5 of which a total of 6 million doses are expected.
These new bivalent vaccines are indicated for the same categories as the previous one, that is for the fourth doses of fragile, over 60 as well as for those over 12 who have not yet taken the third dose. The novelty, contained in the latest circular is that they can be “made available at the request of the interested party” as a fourth dose also for all over 12. And in fact the Regions in the last few days have been opening bookings for the second booster to everyone. A fifth dose is also planned for the severely immunosuppressed “upon evaluation and specialist clinical judgment”. In short, the vaccination campaign continues in the name of maximum openness to all,
Which vaccine: the one calibrated on Omicron 1 or Omicron 5?
An incentive to protect themselves could come from the new bivalent adapted vaccines – that for Omicron 1 and Omicron 4-5 – which are now available. In particular, the second is calibrated not only on the original Wuhan strain but also on the sub-variants (Omicron 4-5) now dominant in Italy.
Several Italians may have preferred to wait for the fourth dose to be able to choose this new vaccine even if Aifa, the Italian Medicines Agency, stressed that “there is no evidence to be able to express a judgment of preferential use of one of the different bivalent vaccines available today, believing that all can expand the protection against different variants and can help maintain optimal protection against Covid-19 disease “.
The fact is that, according to the Regions, the possibility of access to the two bivalent vaccines often changes: in Lazio, for example, you can choose which one to do between the two bivalents (Omicron 1 or 5), in Tuscany the one for Omicron 5 is offered first, while in Lombardy cannot be chosen and the one available in the hub is received as is also the case in Campania