Two shots with a corona vaccine offer insufficient protection for a group of vulnerable people. For example, it concerns people with an autoimmune disease, says professor of immunology at Amsterdam UMC Marjolein van Egmond in Op1 on Thursday evening.
More and more countries are switching to a third shot, a so-called vaccination booster. For example, the corona vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna may be much more effective after a third prick. “We don’t know very much about its effects yet,” says Van Egmond. “But what we do know is that two shots are not enough for a certain group of people. I am really talking about vulnerable people.”
According to Van Egmond, this mainly concerns people who have problems with the immune system or who have had a transplant and who take medicines to suppress the immune system.
Text continues below Tweet.
While we worry about our holidays, more and more countries are turning to a third jab. A so-called vaccination booster. Marjolein van Egmond: “We don’t know much about it yet, but we know that two injections are not enough for vulnerable people.” #On 1 pic.twitter.com/n1JtDqBwBU
— Op1 (@op1npo) July 22, 2021
“After a transplant, you can reject a foreign organ. To prevent this, the immune system is suppressed. If you simultaneously give a vaccine to stimulate the immune system, it will not match. Those people do not develop a good defense against corona and can still end up in intensive care.”
‘Very specific group’
That is a very specific group, says the professor. “People with an autoimmune disease, for example, but possibly also cancer patients who receive chemotherapy.”
A third shot may be necessary for this group, but that is not certain yet, says Van Egmond. “That’s the hope.”
But “we just know that two shots are not enough for these people,” she emphasizes. “It involves quite a large number of people. If I am very honest, I expect that they will also get a third shot in the Netherlands.” She is unable to say exactly how many people are involved.
ALSO READ: Virologist Marion Koopmans: get yourself tested, even if you are vaccinated
By: Peter Visser
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