Full hospitals in the Dominican Republic 3:44
(CNN Spanish) -
The Dominican Government announced this Wednesday the application of a third booster dose against the coronavirus and indicated that it will begin this Thursday with health personnel.
In a press conference, led by President Luis Abinader, the authorities explained that the presence of new variants up to "eight times more contagious" motivated the decision to apply the booster dose to combat the disease.
Although the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) asked the country not to rush with the application of a third dose of the vaccine against covid-19, the Dominican government gave the green light this Wednesday.
(Photo by ERIKA SANTELICES / afp / AFP via Getty Images)
“It is immediately and as established therein, all the people who qualify, and that means whoever has applied the second dose of AstraZeneca that has a number of weeks, eight weeks and who has applied the second dose of Sinovac, after that second dose, then a period of four weeks has passed, ”indicated the vice president and coordinator of the Health Cabinet, Raquel Peña.
The authorities explained that people who opt for a third booster dose will receive a different vaccine than the one they were initially administered.
advertising
Experts such as the infectious disease doctor, Miguel Nuñez, who was part of the group of medical societies that supported the decision of the Dominican Government to offer the booster dose, cited the Com-cov study carried out by the University of Oxford, which indicates that the application of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines generate a “robust” immune response.
It should be noted that said study does not mention anything in relation to the application of a third and / or booster dose.
Controversy in the Dominican Republic for the application of a booster dose against covid-19
Regarding the reaction to the additional dose, several studies indicate that combining different vaccines could cause a little more serious side effects, however, they do not suggest that this could lead to serious health problems.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States does not officially recommend giving a third booster dose, but they have not told people not to do it either.
So far, there is no indication that people need a booster dose, especially those who have been inoculated with vaccines such as Pfizer mRNA which is highly effective in fighting covid-19.
covid-19 vaccine
