La Nación / Health analyzes applying a fourth dose of the vaccine against COVID-19

The director of the Expanded Immunization Program (PAI), Héctor Castro, pointed out this Sunday that the possibility of applying the fourth dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 is being analyzed, but at the moment there is nothing confirmed. It is expected that in the next few days there will be a new meeting between the health authorities to continue discussing the issue.

“We have been analyzing the issue of the fourth dose for more than three weeks. The first point is that at a population level we have to increase coverage, that is extremely important and at an individual level there are factors that have to be analyzed”, explained the director in an interview with Telefuturo.

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He argued that at the individual level the factors to be analyzed are the same for vaccination and those that led to the application of the third dose, such as underlying diseases, people over 60 years of age and those who are highly exposed to the virus, such as white personals in general.

Castro mentioned that studies show that with the application of the third dose, immunity against the virus increases considerably, which speaks of the importance of immunization against COVID-19 to prevent serious cases of the disease, despite the decrease in cases. The fourth dose would be focused on the vulnerable population.

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“Right now there are already recommendations from international agencies to focus on the elderly, people with comorbidities and also people with high exposure for the fourth dose. We have a new meeting pending to focus on that. There are 60% of those over 60 who do not have the third dose, ”she added.

The director of the EPI also indicated that people with basic pathologies or those who are not vaccinated are the ones with the highest risk of being admitted to the intensive care unit in case of infection and a fourth dose would be important to reduce the possibility of presenting symptoms. serious.

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