With the advancement of the vaccination plan, the internal debate on third doses was bailed out: when they would be administered and which groups would receive them

According to the last update of Public vaccination monitor, in Argentina, they have already applied 50,334,965 vaccines, of which 29,294,069 belong to the first doses and 21,040,896 have already completed their schedules. This advance in the vaccination plan rekindled a discussion at the Nation’s Ministry of Health which began to take shape in mid-August: To apply third doses or not?

The truth is that among the infectologists who advise the government there are different positions among those who argue that the third doses should be started at the end of the year among healthcare professionals and those over 60 with risk factors which have already exceeded eight months from the second application and those who argue that doses should be reserved to inoculate adolescents and minors with and without risk factors to achieve the “true “collective immunity (more than 90% of the vaccinated population) and cut off the circulation of the virus.

As this media learned, the Ministry of Health of the Nation would choose to listen to the recommendation of the first and begin to schematize a plan to vaccinate a part of the citizens with third doses, a strategy that could begin in the last days. December or early 2022.

“The idea is to start with healthcare professionals who were vaccinated between December 2020 and January or February 2021 and those over 60 with risk factors. We understand that part of this group already had the full program for May or June, so It would not be unreasonable to think of placing doses in those which, in January 2022, eight months have already passed since the second application.», Explains a health source aware of the schedule for the third doses.

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines would be used as third dose

Although details of the plan remain confidential, the government plans to use part of the third dose as a third dose. 20 million Pfizer vaccines which will arrive before the end of the year then the other 20,000,000 Modern which will arrive in 2022.

According to national projections published in INDEC, the Argentine population between 10 and 19 years old in Argentina, it amounts to about 7,129,343 people, therefore, to immunize this sector of the population, some 14.3 million doses. The contract with Pfizer covers this entire age group and there would then be around 6 million vaccines left.

In turn, if the ANMAT authorizes the use of Sinopharm vaccines in minors between 3 and 12 years of age, it will not be necessary to assign the doses of Moderna and Pfizer to this group, which itself has yet to be cleared by the FDA for application in these groups. age groups. For now, they are only enabled for people aged 12 to 17.

This would allow Casa Rosada to have more doses from these two laboratories to use as back-up.

A few days ago, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from United States, the entity that regulates the marketing of drugs, authorized this Wednesday a third booster dose on pfizer vaccine against the coronavirus for people over 65 and also for adults at risk or particularly exposed to covid19.

Argentina has yet to receive millions of coronavirus vaccines

A figure reveals that the Government is preparing to grant a third dose, whether at the end of 2021 or in 2022: the huge stock of vaccines which can be applied once the vaccination of the elderly and even adolescents with and without risk factors is completed.

• 19 million Pfizer.
• 20 million Moderna.
• 5 million doses of CanSino.
• 10 million Covaxin (Indian laboratory Bharat Biotech).
• 7 million doses of the COVAX mechanism.

To this, we must add that there are still millions of doses of Sputnik V, AstraZeneca and Sinopharm to be received.

With this large number of doses, the Government even could vaccinate -in a hypothetical and fictitious scenario- to all its population, which according to INDEC estimates for 2021 amounts to 45,808,747 citizens, which would require 91 617 494 doses to complete the two diagrams.