Spain extends the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Pedro Sanchez has announced that the vaccination reinforcement will be extended to those over 60 years of age.

In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine to be available to health workers and people over 60-years-old. Most of these people received two doses of the AstraZenic vaccine and will now be offered either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine to help boost their immunity.

This proposal will be debated at the next meeting of the Public Health Commission (CSP) – whose date is yet to be specified – in which the general directors of Public Health of the autonomous communities participate. At the moment, the date from which this third dose will begin to be administered, pending approval, is unknown, although it is most likely in late December or early January due to timing issues. So far, more than 2.9 million doses have been given to people with high-risk conditions and who are over 70 years of age.

With the arrival of the cold, the threat of the sixth wave, and the evidence of declining immunity from vaccines, it is difficult not to “jump on the bandwagon” of what the United States, the United Kingdom, and our European “neighbors” are doing. What was unthinkable three months ago, that the third doses were to end up being applied to the entire population over 18 years of age, is an increasingly closer reality.

Evidence of protection

Research carried out in the United Kingdom suggests that an extra dose would increase the effectiveness against symptomatic infection from 62.5 to 94% in the case of Comirnaty (Pfizer) and 44, 2% to 93.1% in that of Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca). However, and although most of the published studies indicate a drop in antibodies after months, there is not enough data at this time to show a general decline in protection against severe disease.

In the United States, the FDA (American drug agency) plans to immediately authorize booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine in all adults. Last week, the company released the results of a phase III trial with 10,000 participants that were strong in favor of inoculating the third dose, as it achieved 95% protection against symptomatic infection.

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