WHO has advised against a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine: what Argentinian infectologists say

A few days ago, following the Delta variant and its ability to call into question the efficacy of certain vaccines, the possibility of third dose to strengthen immunity against COVID-19. However, in the last few hours, the World Health Organization (WHO) Not only did he destroy this initiative, but he also demanded that countries with vaccine surpluses donn the most backward nations in immunization.

“Scientific data does not justify this dose for the moment reinforcement, which also increases the inequality at a time when many developing countries have not yet been able to immunize their populations more vulnerable, ”he warned Didier Houssin, chairman of the emergency committee of the world’s highest health entity.

// The city of Buenos Aires opens the vaccination registry for people over 25 this Friday

Last week, Pfizer and his German partner BioNTech announced that in August they would seek authorization from the US health authorities for a third dose in order to boost antibody production and thus increase protection against the emergence of new variants.

Health officials in the United States have blurted out the possibility that an additional injection might one day be needed, as with many other vaccines. This is why multiple studies are underway to test different possibilities: a third single dose, a vaccine of a different brand to the two previous doses or to a vaccine specially designed to protect against new variants.

However, the companies did not disclose any scientific data and, as National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases they answered categorically that for now no further dose is needed. Similarly, health officials have warned that it will be the government – not the drug companies – who will decide if this changes.

In the region, Brazil and Chile They also started evaluating the application of a third dose due to studies that would indicate a greater weakness of the Chinese vaccine. Sinovac (popular in these countries) compared to the Delta variant. And in Argentina? What is the opinion of infectious disease specialists?

“There is nothing proven in terms of third doses”, he claimed Jorge geffner, immunologist from the COVID unit of Conicet, before the consultation of TN.com.ar. “Here we must speed up the application of second dose in the over 40s. With Oxford-AstraZeneca and Sputnik V, and if Sputnik V is missing, it must be combined with other vaccines. The British Secretary of Health has published a very rigorous study according to which Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer offer almost 30% protection with a first dose, and that it exceeds 80% with two doses. This is the fundamental thing, ”said the expert, who was summoned two weeks ago by the national government to develop guidelines for the combination of vaccines.

In accordance with this assessment, Luis Camera, another of the infectologists who arrived at Casa Rosada, expressed: “It was properly advised that a third dose would not be necessary”. And he continued, “It’s important to complete the two-dose schedule because some scientific evidence speaks of a weaker immune response from single-dose vaccines against the Delta variant.”

// Concerned about the Delta variant, the government will strengthen border controls and isolation of travelers

Another of the specialists consulted by this means, the molecular virologist Mario Lozano placeholder image, specifies: “In Argentina, it is not necessary to apply a third dose. There are countries like Chile and Brazil that are thinking about it because of the low efficacy of Sinovac in two doses, but so far the vaccines we use in Argentina are very good even with the Delta variant ”.

“In the UK, the Delta variant entered just over a month ago and accounts for 9 out of 10 new infections. Daily cases have increased more than 10 times, spawning a new wave. In exchange, deaths have increased much less, which indicates the protection of vaccines, ”he concluded.