Should I get a third dose of the covid-19 vaccine

More than 75% of Spaniards take already received complete instructions for vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. The benefits of vaccines in Spain are impressive, as shown by a recent study with data from the Ministry of Health .

The impact was more significant for the most vulnerable populations, that is, people with the highest risk of hospitalization and death. In fact, mass vaccinations of people over 60 prevented a fourth wave of COVID-19 admissions and deaths last April, after Easter. However, then a host of new diagnoses emerged, confirming that vaccines do not prevent transmission, but severe pneumonia .

In summer we had the last wave of COVID-19 caused by the delta variant of the coronavirus, which is transmitted much more. Cases of the disease occurred mainly among the young and among the unvaccinated. We just published autumn and the pandemic crisis in Spain seems to be under control. So do we rule obtainable a new wave 

Covid-19 in Israel

The latest figures from Israel show that the protection provided by vaccines lasts no more than 6 months. In this country, most of the adult population was vaccinated faster. However, since July, Israel has seen a large wave of new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Of course, the proportion of serious forms was low. More importantly, COVID-19 hospitalizations were 20 times less common among those who received the third quantity of the injection .

 

It has been argued that possibly the vaccines introduced so far may have been less effective against the new delta variant, which is ample more infectious and has spread across the world as of India. However, this does non look to be the case, and efficacy largely persists after at least two doses .

 

So why have new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection recently erupted in Israel? There seem to be several reasons:the invasion of the highly portable delta variant;

 the return to school of children, the only group that has not stood immunized; family assemblies on the occasion of Jewish religious holidays; massive and repeated practice of diagnostic trials in the country, which revealed many asymptomatic or unimportant bags;and the main reason, which appears to be a broadminded loss of efficacy of the vaccines administered during the first sector of the year.

An experience similar to that of the covid-19 in Israel was in Iceland, a country of only 350,000 people in the Arctic Circle. Almost all of its adults were vaccinated before the summer. Despite this, the number of new infections has increased since the delta variant outbreak in August. However, there were no serious cases and only one patient died.

 

Covid-19 in the US

In contrast, the pandemic is still selfsame active in some of the southern states of the United States, where vaccination rates are low, less than 50%, and the delta variant spreads very rapidly. Over the course of 2020, more than half a million Americans have died from COVID-19. Compared with previous years, mortality in 2020 increased by 18%. SARS-CoV-2 infection was the third important cause of death in the United States after cardiovascular disease and cancer.

 

A few existences ago, the US government permitted the introduction of a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for three populations: the elderly, immunosuppressed people, and personnel at high risk of contracting the coronavirus (healthcare workers, educators, government agencies, etc.). Additional doses of Moderna and Janssen vaccines are expected to be approved soon. The rationale for administering a third dose to elderly and immunosuppressed patients is obvious: their immune answer to the vaccine is lower or disappears faster.

 

More controversial is the administration of a third dose for personnel at high risk of exposure, such as medical professionals and teachers. In either case, booster doses provide additional protection. While they may be unnecessary for some, for most they will be more reliable, especially over time.