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The coronavirus vaccine is in short supply. Thomas Mertens and Hendrik Streeck demand that the second vaccination now be delayed so that large numbers of high-risk patients can still be vaccinated.
According to experts, in order to vaccinate as many people as possible against the coronavirus as soon as possible, it might make sense to postpone the timing of the booster vaccination. “Since the interval between the two vaccines can most likely vary within wide limits and protection is very good even after one vaccine, it is definitely worth considering giving the first vaccine first if vaccines are missing,” said Thomas Mertens, president of the Standing Commission on Vaccination (Stiko) of the Robert Koch Institute. However, this poses an additional challenge when planning the second vaccination, which must eventually be carried out.
The first vaccine already protects
Bonn virologist Hendrik Streeck made a similar statement in the late-night RTL newspaper. The data showed that more than half of those vaccinated were protected from severe disease after the first vaccination. If you give the second vaccine later, you can actually double the vaccination capacity with the first batches of vaccination doses. But first there has to be a discussion about that. “It is not an easy decision, but it would be a way to vaccinate more people quickly.”
Video graphic shows: This is how mRNA vaccines developed against corona work and work in the human body. (Source: AFP)
On Wednesday, Britain gave the vaccine from British-Swedish pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca and the University of Oxford emergency approval as the second vaccine after Biontech / Pfizer preparation. At the same time, the committee recommended that as many people as possible receive only the first dose of both vaccines. The second dose should be injected within twelve weeks instead of the originally planned two or four weeks. Many UK experts welcomed the decision as a sensible approach to address the vaccine shortage. However, they also noted that the effectiveness is lower after the first dose and it should be seen if the strategy actually works.
Peter Kremsner, director of the Institute for Tropical Medicine at Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, believes that the British approach is fundamentally very sensible. “If the effect of the first vaccination does not diminish rapidly over time, the second could also take place later, for example after six months. We don’t know yet. This is also done with other vaccines.”
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