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The Pfizer vaccine is one of the most popular: people can get a second dose of the vaccine no earlier than three weeks after receiving it. However, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, based on the experience of other countries, proposes to extend this term.
“Since most vaccines offer significant protection after the first vaccination, at least against severe forms of the disease and death, it would simply lead to greater safety in society,” he said.
The president of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen also supports this idea of the Prime Minister. According to her, the situation is confusing and uncertain, as she faces new challenges on a daily basis.
“I think the government is doing everything it can in this situation.”
So far, the prime minister is considering extending the deadline more than twice, from three to eight weeks, but says it would not apply to people who have already been vaccinated with the first dose and are waiting for the second.
“We are talking about the amounts that will probably come from Monday and the people who will start the vaccination again from Monday. Then, if we agree with the experts and they support that decision, they will simply be assigned a later date to vaccination, ”he explained.
However, experts are twisted on such a proposal from the Prime Minister: Lithuania plans to receive up to 100,000 in the near future. Pfizer vaccine dose. In addition, vaccination rates are increasing, so it is not clear to health professionals why it is necessary to extend this period.
“Today, at least, I do not hear that it is said that it is so long that now we are taking something, doing something, vaccinating more people with one dose, and then we will see what happens,” said Vytautas Usonis. professor at Vilnius University.
According to the professor, the extension of the term can also affect the effectiveness of the vaccine itself.
“The studies that are being done now, that is, large-scale studies, generally speak of that interval of three to four weeks.”
The former Minister of Health also ensures that non-politicians must decide what the vaccination deadlines should be. According to him, if immunity does not develop after the modified vaccination deadline, the manufacturer will definitely not take responsibility.
“We can come up with all kinds of things here to increase the rate of vaccination. What if we allowed only half the dose? Maybe something would be enough? But this is not done in medicine, and indeed those things need to be investigated, confirmed in clinical trials. Not only by themselves, they are made.
The government’s proposal is also skeptical about the government’s proposal – that the second dose of the vaccine can be administered only according to the manufacturer’s instructions and not otherwise.
“The summary of product characteristics states that Comirnaty is administered as a two-dose intramuscular injection and the second dose should be administered three weeks after the first dose,” said Aistė Tautvydienė, spokesperson for the Medicines Control Agency.
While some experts criticize, experts working for I. Šimonyte support the idea of extending the time between vaccine doses.
“It just hit us then. Again, preliminary data shows that a delay of up to eight weeks … is unlikely to reduce efficacy,” said Marius Strioga, an oncologist at the National Cancer Institute.
Vaccinating older people with chronic diseases remains a top priority, according to the prime minister, as these people are at the highest risk of developing a severe form of coronavirus.
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