The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed for people to receive their fourth dose of mRNA-vaccines against Covid-19. The vaccines in question are Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. This was originally reported by mbl.is.
The fourth dose, or second booster dose, will be available to those who are over 50 years of age, as well as those with a weakened immune system. There will have to be at least four months since the individual received their last booster dose.
Those with weakened immune systems must be at least 12 years old to be able to receive the fourth dose of the Pfizer vaccine. For Moderna’s vaccine, these individuals must have reached 18 years.
Fourth dose not advantageous according to research
In his reply to the inquiries of Mbl.is, Þórólfur Guðnason, Iceland’s Chief Epidemiologist, says that individuals with a weakened immune system have been able to receive the fourth vaccine dose for a while.
„We have not been offering the fourth dose to others, as the advantage is small, according to research conducted abroad,“ Þórólfur says. He claims that most nations in Europe have the same arrangement as we do. He adds that not many have received the fourth dose offered to them.
„We are expecting a specific vaccine for the Omicron variant in the next months and will most likely hold back on further booster doses,“ Þórólfur claims.
In a January article in Mannlíf, it was reported that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had warned Europe about repeated vaccine booster doses. In a press briefing, Marco Cavaleri, Head of Biological Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy at EMA, expressed his doubts regarding the need for a fourth dose and claimed there to be no research supporting that need – at least not yet.
In the press briefing, Cavaleri said that repeated vaccine booster doses at short intervals were not a feasible long-term solution. Furthermore, he claimed that booster doses given every four months could possibly overwhelm people’s immune system and cause fatigue.
Cavaleri also mentioned that development of specific vaccines for the Omicron variant might be needed.
The World Health Origanization (WHO) has repeatedly pointed out that vaccinating the whole world makes succeeding in the fight against Covid-19 more likely, rather than the rich nations of the world repeatedly adding booster doses.
At the press briefing, Marco Cavaleri stressed that one booster dose had proven to be effective and encouraged people to keep accepting the booster shot.
This article was originally written in Icelandic by Gunnhildur Kjerúlf Birgisdóttir.