Fully vaccinated people don’t need third dose as of now: Dr. Jeewandara

14 August 2021 12:00 am Views - 513

• Several countries have already begun or have plans for booster programmes

Individuals who are fully vaccinated are adequately protected and do not need an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of now, Director of the Department of Immunology & Molecular Medicine at Sri Jayewardenepura Dr. Chandima Jeewandara said. 

Israel, France, Germany, Britain and several countries in the Middle East have already begun or have plans for booster programmes. 

Israel, which has used the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on 57% of its population, became the first country to begin a booster campaign - for the vulnerable and those aged over 60. President Isaac Herzog received his third dose of the vaccine at the end of July. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also on Thursday authorised third doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines for some people with weakened immune systems, giving physicians more leeway to protect those who did not respond enough to an initial series of shots. 

Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for countries to delay rolling out booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines to close the gap between richer and poorer nations. 

The WHO’s vaccines chief Dr Katherine O’Brien, said the evidence around the need for a third shot was still “evolving”: It’s moving. We don’t have a full set of evidence around whether this is needed or not.