Stiko recommends booster vaccination after three months

Created: 12/21/2021, 02:26 PM

From: Christian Stör

Moderna-Booster probably protects effectively against Omikron.

© Dinendra Haria / imago

Booster vaccinations are considered important against the Omikron variant.

The Standing Vaccination Commission is now creating the framework for accelerated boosting.

Berlin - The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) recommends refreshing the corona vaccination after just three months. By shortening the distance, "the protection against serious illnesses caused by infections with the omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2 in the population should be improved and the transmission of the spreading omicron variant reduced," said the commission on Tuesday. The vaccination protection against the new virus variant already "decreases significantly three to four months after basic immunization". The recommendation to shorten the vaccination interval applies immediately to adults.

According to Stiko, older and previously ill people should be given the injection because of their higher risk of Covid-19.

The two mRNA vaccines that are used for boosting (Comirnaty from Biontech / Pfizer * and Spikevax from Moderna *) are "completely equivalent in terms of their effectiveness".

Corona: Stiko recommends booster vaccinations after three months

Current data indicate a significantly reduced vaccination protection after the basic immunization compared to the Omikron variant, explained the Stiko.

This decreases significantly after three to four months.

After a booster vaccination, the protective effect against symptomatic infection with the Omikron variant increases again significantly.

It can currently be assumed that protection against severe disease will also increase.

Nothing can currently be said about the duration of the protection.

The Stiko had previously recommended that a booster vaccination should usually be given every six months after the last vaccine dose of the basic vaccination.

A shortening of the vaccination interval to five months could "be considered in individual cases or if sufficient capacities are available".

For immunocompromised people, an even shorter interval between the second and third dose was possible.

In contrast to some earlier updates, the change made on Tuesday is already a final Stiko recommendation.

(red / dpa / afp) *