The epidemiologist Pier Luigi Lopalco, interviewed by Fanpage.it, criticizes the position taken by Undersecretary Gemmato on the fourth dose of the anti Covid vaccine: “It is absolutely false that the risk-benefit assessment does not support the need for the recall”.
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The epidemiologist Pier Luigi Lopalcoformer health councilor in Puglia, candidate in quota Article 1 for the center-left in the last political elections, but not elected, he has no half measures in stamping as “serious” and “deeply wrong” the statement by Undersecretary of Health Marcello Gemmato on Covid vaccines. For Lopalco “Anyone who wants to avoid a symptomatic disease, of any kind of severity, from flu-like syndrome to Long Covid, must make the call. This is what science tells us.”
The exponent of Fratelli d’Italia two days ago publicly said that the vaccination campaign must continue with the fourth dose, but only for fragile people. For all the others, however, the administration of the second booster would not be recommended. These are the precise words of Undersecretary Gemmato: “The idea of this ministry is to secure the clusters that have given mortality. They are medical epidemiology data, statistics, nothing is invented: we see that the clusters that give mortality are the frail, the elderly, the immunosuppressed . Those are the people to whom we recommend getting vaccinated with booster doses and we recommend it in a strong and timely manner “he said.
“To those who are well, to those who recognize themselves in a cluster that does not give mortality, for cost-benefit analysis, because there are adverse reactions to the intake of drugs and vaccines, in this case the idea is to always balance and understand that vaccination should be strongly recommended to clusters that cause mortality. It makes no sense to do so in people who obviously do not die from contracting the virus, least of all in this historical era in which we have 2% employment in intensive care “.
“The gravity of this statement derives from the fact that the undersecretary denies what the ministry technicians, also supported by the scientific data of the ISS, reported in a very recent circular. fragile, but this still implies the idea that everyone can benefit from a vaccine booster – said Lopalco, contacted by Fanpage.it – It is not necessarily only those who are at risk of ending up in resuscitation or dying who need to get vaccinated. Because vaccination doesn’t just prevent death, it prevents any challenging form of Covid. And unfortunately, by now we know, to defend against the demanding forms of Covid we need to make some reminders “.
“I took the fourth dose – explained Lopalco – I did it as a health care practitioner, but I did it because I am in my 50s, in good health, and I don’t want to take the risk of having a symptomatic infection and stay five days at home. But in addition to this there is the risk of Long Covid, which can also occur in younger people. Therefore it is absolutely false that the risk-benefit assessment does not support the need for the recall. We are talking about a vaccination that has a very high safety profile. And if the undersecretary has data in hand that we do not have, let it be disseminated. These claims are profoundly wrong, because sadly they come from a person who has no public health experience. Even vaccinations against the flu are not done to avoid death or intensive care, but because every year the flu has such a burden of disease that it manages to paralyze the country, simply by keeping it at home for a week. people. Covid still has a very important burden of disease, regardless of the risk of death “.
Gemmato’s stance can create confusion, because it clashes with the indication of the Ministry of Health, which with a circularissued shortly before the change of executive, it clarified which are the categories that can undergo the recall, essentially opening to all over 12 on request. Not only the frail, therefore, but all people over 12 years old.
On the ministry website the communication has never changed: the fourth dose is recommended for people aged 60 and over, people aged 12 and over with high frailty motivated by concomitant / pre-existing pathologies, RSA operators and guests, pregnant women, provided that a minimum interval of at least four months has passed (120 days) from the first booster dose or the last post-booster infection, considering the date of the positive test. But it is also said that the bivalent vaccines can in any case be used, at the request of the interested party, as a second booster dose, for the vaccination of subjects of at least 12 years of age, who have already received the first booster dose for at least 120 days. . In short, no doubt is raised about the usefulness of the fourth dose for people who do not fall into the category of fragile subjects.
End positive isolation obligation, what Lopalco thinks
The Ministry of Health, after the new government took office, has repeatedly announced that it intends to change the isolation rule for positives, which for the moment has a duration of 5 days. For now, in order to get out of isolation, you need to have a negative swab, but you can only do it if the symptoms have passed for at least 2 days. The Ministry of Health is currently evaluating how to intervene on the standard. “We can discuss the length of isolation, we can reduce the bureaucracy and the number of tampons, perhaps eliminating the tampon at the exit, but it is wrong to abolish it completely. We cannot yet take the risk of sending positive and contagious people around. Isolation remains a public health measure, important for all infectious diseases “Lopalco told Fanpage.it.
Lopalco against the stop to masks in hospitals
The Meloni government has for the moment decided to extend the obligation to wear masks in hospitals and in RSAs. The measure remains in effect until December 31, 2022, after which we will see. “Everything we learned good during the pandemic must remain – Lopalco emphasized – The masks in the hospital must be mandatory not only for Covid, they should continue to be worn, especially in the autumn-winter season in which respiratory viruses circulate. With the masks we have brought down the flu. I can’t understand why we should now abolish a measure that has finally and painfully entered hospitals and places where fragile people are. “
