Undersecretary of Health Marcello Gemmato said today that the fourth dose of the vaccine should only be recommended for the frail, while for all other categories it “makes no sense”. But neither Minister Schillaci nor the Ministry of Health have ever given this indication.
Turn on notifications to receive updates on
For the Undersecretary of Health Marcello Gemmato the fourth dose of the anti-Covid vaccine should not be recommended to everyone over 12who have already received the first booster dose for at least 120 days, but it should only be recommended for the frail. “The idea of this ministry is to secure the clusters that have given mortality. They are medical epidemiology data, statistics, nothing is invented: we see that the clusters that give mortality are the frail, the elderly, the immunosuppressed . Those are the people to whom we recommend getting vaccinated with booster doses and we recommend it in a strong and timely manner “he said today on the sidelines of the seventeenth edition of Meridiano Sanità, organized by The European House – Ambrosetti.
“To those who are well, to those who recognize themselves in a cluster that does not give mortality, for cost-benefit analysis, because there are adverse reactions to the intake of drugs and vaccines, in this case the idea is to always balance and understand that vaccination should be strongly recommended to clusters that cause mortality. It makes no sense to do so in people who obviously do not die from contracting the virus, least of all in this historical era in which we have 2% employment in intensive care “he added.
A stance that has raised controversy in the scientific community. One of the first to intervene is the virologist Fabrizio PregliascoProfessor of Hygiene at the State University of Milan and medical director of Irccs Galeazzi: “In my opinion, the anti-Covid vaccine, as well as the anti-flu one, is useful for everyone. It is certainly essential to recommend it to the most vulnerable people, on whom the main efforts must be concentrated” in this phase of the vaccination campaign against Sars-CoV-2.
Covid hospitalizations, 56% are represented by patients without symptoms: the Fiaso report
“But I believe that the vaccine still remains an opportunity for everyone, to reduce the impact of the disease, absenteeism and, even if to a more limited extent, the possibility of infecting other family members”he told beraking latest news Salute.
Pregliasco is not the only one to intervene to criticize the statements of the Fdi exponent. Carlo Rossipresident of the Order of Doctors of Milan, stressed the fact that Gemmato’s position is different from the official one of the ministry.
“I am based on the indications that have been published by the Ministry of Health itself and which are still published on its website. If we are talking about the fourth dose, and not the fifth, the fourth dose has been enlarged. Perhaps if he said these things he meant the fifth dose, not the fourth.Rossi said.
And indeed on the website of the Ministry of Health it is clearly written that the administration of the second booster dose (second booster) or fourth dose is recommended for the following categories, provided that a minimum interval of at least four months (120 days) from first booster dose or last post booster infection (date of positive test):
- people aged 60 and over
- people aged 12 and over with high frailty motivated by concomitant / pre-existing pathologies
- operators and guests of residential care centers for the elderly
- health workers
- pregnant women
Taking into account the indication of use authorized by EMA and AIFA, we still read on the website of the ministry, bivalent vaccines can still be used, at the request of the interested party, as a second booster dose, for the vaccination of subjects aged at least 12 years. of age, who have already received the first booster dose for at least 120 days.
The same Minister of Health Orazio Schillaciwho spoke today at the same event as Gemmato, underlined the importance of continuing the vaccination campaign, securing the fragile: “I want to remember the importance of continuing the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 and against seasonal flu, above all to ensure the highest level of coverage in fragile and vulnerable people and I am thinking in particular of the elderly and those who suffer from multiple diseases” . But he didn’t say at all that the fourth dose is not recommended for everyone else.