Third corona vaccination: experts with a new recommendation

The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) recommends a third vaccination for immunocompromised people.

However, she is reluctant to make a general recommendation.

Berlin - In the fight against the Corona * pandemic, the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) has issued a new recommendation.

However, for the time being she has waived a general recommendation for booster vaccinations for seniors.

So far, the committee has only recommended the so-called boosters to people with a weakened immune system.

The commission has not yet given a recommendation by age group, said Stiko chairman Thomas Mertens on Friday (September 24th, 2021).

According to Mertens, the current Stiko recommendation is about people with immune deficiencies or diseases in which the immune system is downregulated by drugs, for example in the case of autoimmune diseases or after a transplant.

However, differentiation should be made within these groups depending on the extent of the immunosuppression, said Mertens of the German press agency.

Therefore, the time of the third vaccination should vary, depending on how much the immune system is weakened.

Third corona vaccination: The decision on a general recommendation will take time

"When a booster vaccination will be necessary for non-risk patients is scientifically much more difficult to answer," said Mertens. "The decision on a recommendation will at least take a while." Stiko member Fred Zepp added that the vaccination commission, with the support of the Robert Koch Institute, will examine how often and how pronounced Covid-19 diseases currently occur in older age groups. "If it turns out that vaccination breakthroughs occur more frequently from a certain age, there could also be a general vaccination recommendation from around 60, 70 or 80 years of age," Zepp told the Funke newspapers.

At the beginning of August, the Conference of Health Ministers and Health Minister Jens Spahn * (CDU *) spoke out in favor of booster vaccinations.

The third Piks for senior citizens and immunocompromised people has been possible nationwide for around three weeks without a Stiko recommendation.

Fully vaccinated people receive another dose of an approved vaccine after around six months.

Around 486,500 German citizens have already accepted this offer.

Third corona vaccination for the elderly and immunocompromised: Opinions differ

Eugen Brysch, board member of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, criticizes the advance of the federal states. "The vote of the Stiko had to be awaited," he told the German press agency. He is still no friend of unchecked booster mass vaccinations. "The immune status of every person can be checked with a blood test with a view to SARS-CoV-2," he judged. The T-cell values ​​can be used to read how well a person is protected - and whether they already need another vaccination.

The Charité infectiologist Leif Erik Sander considers booster vaccinations for the elderly as well as for people from other risk groups to be medically sensible.

In August he published interim results of his research group.

According to Sander, these confirmed that the immune response of older people to the vaccination decreased significantly more than that of younger people.

Third corona vaccination for the elderly and immunocompromised: recommendation not yet published

The current Stiko recommendation with its restrictions has not yet been published.

It will be valid as soon as it is published, said Mertens.

He expects it in a few days.

The usual procedure with statements from various institutions and experts has already been completed.

Most recently, the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) published the corona vaccination for children and adolescents * from the age of twelve.

According to the Stiko, pregnant women can now also be vaccinated against Corona *.

(Luisa Ebbrecht with dpa) *

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