“Greedy”. Israel at the start (for the immunosuppressed) – breaking latest news

The World Health Organization points the finger at those countries that are thinking about the third dose when there are others who cannot even immunize health workers and the most vulnerable population. If solidarity does not work, there is only one word to explain the prolongation of the agony of this world still hostage to the virus: greed warns the WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus labeling the selfish attitude as unacceptable. We are consciously choosing not to protect those in need, Ghebreyesus said, asking Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna to give priority to the Covax project which aims to bring vaccines to those regions of the world where access is almost absent.

Pfizer’s announcement and Ema and Fda’s response

Just a few days ago Pfizer BioNTech announced that it will ask the Food and Drug Administration (Fda) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for authorization for the administration of the third dose of Covid vaccine 6-12 months from the second for keep the level of antibodies against the disease high, which drops after 6-12 months. The crux for: is there really a need for a third dose of Covid-19 vaccine? The two regulatory bodies have held back on the recall explaining that at the moment the population has concluded the vaccination cycle does not need a booster dose, not even against the Delta variant. This is not to say that things cannot change. Sooner or later we may need a booster for all or some selected groups, such as the elderly or people with pre-existing medical conditions. Anthony Fauci, director of the United States National Institute for Infectious Disease Research. In fact, generally speaking theVaccine-induced immunity lasts for years and not months, but still little time has elapsed for Covid to be sure.

When the third dose is needed

A possible third dose of Covid-19 vaccine could be done for two reasons – he explains Sergio Abrignani, immunologist at the University of Milan and member of the Cts -: when there is evidence that the immunological memory induced by the two doses of the vaccine is decaying to such a degree that at some point the vaccinated are no longer protected and are exposed to reinfection or because a variant pi diffusiva of those in circulation that are no longer well recognized by vaccines and people, despite having completed the vaccination course, are exposed to severe forms of the disease. The two reasons can be contemporary. The scientific data known today does not justify the need for the third dose, not even against the Delta variant. Israeli data tells us that after two doses of Pfizer vaccine, protection from mild or asymptomatic forms drops a great deal, from 94% to 64%, even just a few months after the second injection. It means that a third of the vaccinated can be reinfected, but in a mild form. On the other hand, protection from severe forms drops from 97% to 94%, hence the marginal decline.

The immunosuppressed

There are categories of people for whom the vaccine might be recommended: i immunosuppressed patients (transplanted, undergoing cancer treatment or severely dialysed). These are people who need more doses of risk to mount a barely acceptable immune response. Just in these hours the Israeli Ministry of Health has given instructions to administer a third dose of Pfizer vaccine (two months after the second) to immunosuppressed to protect them from serious illness in case of contagion. The third dose can also be administered to those who have been or are still undergoing various types of oncological treatments. In Italy there is currently no indication neither by Ema nor by Aifa to administer a third dose for immunosuppressed patients. Carmine Pinto, president of the Italian Association of Oncology. If someone proceeds in this sense, they do it off label, outside the authorizations even if, given the immune situation of these patients, we expect the regulatory bodies to decide on the recall.