The ministry legitimized the decision to vaccinate against COVID-19 in a third dose

“The ministry has legitimized the decision,” Aistė Šuksta, a spokesman for the health minister, told BNS on Tuesday morning.

“Last night, we finished finalizing the document according to the comments and published it. This means that from today it is possible to register for the third, intensifying, both through koronastop.lt and by phone 1808”, he confirmed on Tuesday morning Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys on LRT radio.

He told LRT television on Monday that vaccination would begin in mid-September.

The booster dose will be given to people who work in the health system, nursing and nursing facilities, as well as people over 65 years of age. Vaccination will only be possible at least half a year after vaccination according to the full schedule.

Residents will be vaccinated with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Revaccination of the population is initiated by scientific studies that have shown that the levels of antibodies against the coronavirus in the body decrease dramatically six months after vaccination.

According to A. Dulkis, it is considered that in the long run the entire population that can be vaccinated will be re-vaccinated.

“At the national level, three studies have been carried out, specifically on those groups of people who were the first to be vaccinated since December 27 of last year. It was these studies that showed a very marked decrease in protection six months after the second dose. This means that it seems that we can extrapolate that vaccination to other groups by analogy. We will consult with scientists and experts, maybe we need to do something else here, “the minister told LRT radio.

Professor Aurelija Žvirblienė, Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, told LRT Radio that in the future vaccinations against COVID-19 may become periodic, and people, especially young people, could be revaccinated not necessarily every year, but every two to three years.