Starting from the second half of January, adults who have the four doses against the COVID-19 can be inoculated with bivalent vaccine. As is known, this drug is currently applied to healthcare personnel and in the coming days it will be applied to people over the age of 60 and with comorbidities.
“Starting from the second half of this month, the elderly who have the previous four doses will be able to receive it. This vaccine is a combination of formulas that allows protection for up to one year and not just four or five months like the previous ones”, indicated the Prime Minister, Alberto Otaroladuring his presentation in the plenary session of Congress for the vote of confidence granted.
The prime minister also called on the public to complete theirs coronavirus vaccination calendarespecially the population at risk of the pandemic, such as adults over 60 and people with comorbidities.
“Unfortunately, the number of regular vaccinated is low. Only 25% of citizens over 60 applied the fourth dose, when this percentage should be between 70% and 80%”.
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What is the bivalent vaccine against COVID-19?
This new type of bivalent vaccines contain two components of messenger RNA (mRNA) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The first is against the original virus that was identified in Wuhan, China in 2019, and the other is a common mRNA component between the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant.
The bivalent vaccine will not only prevent hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths, it could also stop disease transmission or asymptomatic infection.
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To better combat the omicron variant, responsible for most COVID-19 infections worldwide, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the application of the new bivalent vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, which will provide greater immunity against coronavirus.
The new Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, the FDA reported are a booster dose that can be given to anyone who has had the vaccine or previous booster for more than two months.
The Moderna vaccine is licensed for use as a single booster dose in people 18 years of age and older, while the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is also licensed for use in children 12 years of age and older.
