MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine health authorities decide who should get 4th dose of vaccine

Those vaccinated with Sinopharm are more likely to need a new injection

When over 78% of Argentines have already taken at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 33% have even received a booster shot, health authorities nationwide are planning who will need yet another injection against the pandemic disease, it was reported Monday.

People aged 50 or over who have received two shots of Sinopharm since November and those aged over 3 with immunodefficiencies are the ones who will become eligible first for the additional booster dose, according to Health Ministry guidelines, a measure which targets some 2 million people in that situation. It also includes those who have already received a third dose, although the number is bound to grow in the coming days.

Health authorites had already said in November an additional dose was going to be needed as part of the primary scheme, when the initial immune response was “probably insufficient.” A month later, the authorities agreed to cut down the gap between doses from six to four months for those over 18.

Immunosuppressed patients who have already received the additional dose are those undergoing oncological treatment for solid and onco-haematological tumors, transplant recipients and those who received hematopoietic stem cells in the last 2 years or who are currently undergoing immunosuppressive treatment.

People with moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency, those with HIV, who are on active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or immunosuppressive medication, with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis, with autoimmune diseases and/or treatments with immunosuppressants, immunomodulators or biologicals would also top the list of those eligible for a fourth dose.

Patients aged 50 or older who have received Sinopharm will be added to the list of those who are up for the fourth injection as soon as four months have passed from the previous shot, which in fact applies to those who have been last injected in November.

Third doses are not tantamount to boosters. Health Ministry experts have explained that the additional dose is administered ”after a primary scheme with the proven benefit of an extra dose (situation in older adults with inactivated virus vaccines)“.

The booster dose, meanwhile, is used after a primary treatment with a sufficient initial immune response, ”since the response is likely to decrease over time.”

Other countries such as Israel and Chile are moving forward advancing with a second booster shot for vulnerable and/or elderly people.