For the time being, the mandatory vaccination campaign has failed, and the Omikron outbreak is gradually declining. Nobody knows for certain which corona variations will emerge in autumn or how contagious and dangerous they will be. But what happens now, in the summer, and especially in the autumn, with vaccinations? Who requires the second booster and when is the best time to provide it?
Who needs the second booster and who doesn’t?
Not only for COVID-19, but for viral infections in general, immune healthy, younger individuals often have a reduced risk of developing serious illness than immunocompromised and/or older individuals.
Immune healthy individuals under the age of 70 do not require the second booster, according to immunologist Christine Falk, a member of the Federal Government’s Corona Expert Council. For immunocompetent healthy individuals, the corona vaccine gives long-term protection against severe COVID-19. A booster dose prevents infection only to a limited extent; even regular boosters have little effect. Three experts concur.
Antibodies and T cells go down over time, but they would not disappear completely, according to Falk. Of course, there are also isolated people among the younger ones who are not “high-responders”, whose immune system does not react optimally to the vaccination. Falk considers the age limit chosen by the STIKO to be useful, as there are still many among them with a good immune response, but also some with a weakened, aged immune situation.
The situation is different for immunocompromised people, for example transplanted or cancer patients, and very old people. Your body defenses don’t respond as well to the immunizations. A second refresher makes sense here. Individually tailored, depending on the type of immunodeficiency, possibly also further corona vaccinations. According to a study, 60 percent of women and men living with a lung transplant have not produced any antibodies to the coronavirus at all even after the second vaccination, Falk reports. Here, a third, fourth or even fifth vaccination is extremely important.
Source : web.de
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