A doctor from the Santara clinics said how the vaccine feels when the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine is administered

According to the doctor, so far only a small proportion of patients have been vaccinated with the third dose. But the doctor was pleased that so far there was no negative knowledge about the well-being of these patients.

“In general, people with weaker immune systems tend to have slightly fewer reactions to vaccination.

In the first phase, more than 1,200 hematological patients were vaccinated at the Santara clinics. Another 400 patients were vaccinated after a kidney transplant and those who received renal replacement therapy. There were no significant side reactions, “said V. Pečeliūnas.

According to the doctor, patients undergoing immunosuppression (immunosuppression) were generally among the first to be vaccinated in the country.

“It just came to our attention then. And I haven’t heard much question at this time. Most of our patients enjoyed that opportunity. They are well aware that the protection a vaccine gives them may be less. Unfortunately, antibody testing performed on the majority of our patients confirm the fact that their immune response to vaccination is somewhat weaker, so people are in a hurry to seize the opportunity to receive a booster dose.

Scientific data is already available, although not very abundant, which justifies the use of a booster dose. For patients, the third dose significantly increases the amount of antibodies and therefore reduces the possibility of infection, ”said V. Pečeliūnas.

However, very strong data are not yet available on the duration of the immune response after a booster dose.

“We see quite clearly groups that respond less to vaccination. Therefore, decisions have been made to protect these groups from COVID-19, ”said the doctor.

So far, only the first data on the effect of the booster dose are available, so it is too early to talk about whether more doses will be needed and how long the antibodies will last.

“We can only rely on historical data when other vaccines are allowed for other diseases. There is a number of data that support the use of booster doses for both hepatitis and certain bacterial diseases. Science has data on other diseases, but currently data on covidio are lacking to answer the question of what to do after the third dose.

In general, even for the third dose in the general population, healthy people, the data is currently insufficient to make decisions. Antibody levels are dropping, we know that. But it seems that for 6-12 months, if a person is healthy, the protection after the vaccine is really valid. Vaccination is likely to be necessary every 12 months if people are healthy.

And some patients don’t develop an immune response even after two doses. We see this not only by monitoring titers, but also by the fact that these patients develop COVID-19, regardless of whether they received two doses or a full course of vaccination, ”noted V. Pečeliūnas.

The doctor said that staff working at the Santara clinics with immunosuppressed patients should be vaccinated. In addition, they are also tested weekly, despite being vaccinated.

“Our goal is to minimize the risk for these patients,” explained the doctor.

All patients are expected to receive a booster dose of the vaccine in the fall.