“Regarding both the fourth dose of Covid vaccine and the efficacy of a new updated vaccine we have to see what the data will tell us. And based on that to decide. It doesn’t make much sense to make predictions. to think about the fourth things let’s think about the third, the second and the first. Because there are still millions of Italians who have not done them. The attention must be placed on these, not on a fourth dose that we still don’t know if it is needed, if not in the frail that we know must do it “. To explain it to beraking latest news Salute is the virologist Roberto Burioni, professor at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, today in Milan on the sidelines of the presentation of his book, ‘The formidable enterprise’ (published by Rizzoli).
“Today – he remembers – there are almost a million over-fifties who have not yet taken the first dose” in Italy. “I would concentrate on this first dose, which is indispensable and can save life, rather than on a fourth which we do not yet know is needed”. The expert specifies: if the data were to indicate that the second booster must be done and a campaign was started, “I would do the fourth dose immediately. But we cannot expect to predict the future. From the first day this vaccine came out I have always said: to know how long the protection will last we have to observe the patients, to see if there is a need for some boosters we have to observe the patients. This observation has shown us that the Covid vaccine is a three-dose vaccine, because the third dose is decisive in improving protection and defending above all from serious illness “.
“On the fourth dose there are still few data – Burioni reiterates – A work on the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’ was published just yesterday, but they are still very partial data, we need more solid data to see. We must be patient and above all we must not to hurry the regulatory authorities who must be able to decide with serenity “. Today in the EU, the EMA and ECDC have made a first point, but specifying precisely that on various aspects there is not yet enough evidence.
As for the updated vaccines, “there are studies in progress. I would say trust the scientific community. We have seen the results and we have seen what is happening in the countries where the elderly have not been vaccinated, let’s look at what happened in Hong Kong” .
Did the ‘zero Covid’ policy not work? “No, unfortunately with such a contagious virus it is not possible – reflects Burioni – The virus has changed. And with a virus that has become so immensely more contagious, unfortunately it is very easy to contract it, even if you are very careful. So the vaccine becomes very important. and luckily vaccination is able to reduce its danger “.