Health Ministry clarifies who needs 4th vaccination

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There is a current discussion about whether a fourth Corona vaccination will become necessary or proper.

The “booster,“ the third Corona vaccination, started in early fall. We are slowly approaching the time when the dose will have been given 270 days ago, and the green passport will therefore lose its validity. Also, the protection against severe courses decreases sharply after several months, especially with the new Omicron variant.

The necessity and possible obligation for a fourth vaccination are being discussed worldwide. The National Vaccination Committee will deal with this question in Austria. Dr. Maria Paulke-Korinek, head of the Department of Immunization in the Ministry of Health, clarifies that a fourth vaccination is unnecessary if you are relatively young and healthy. “We have seen, in young, immunocompetent people, there is no evidence of a decrease in protection, especially against serious diseases,” she clarifies in “Ö1 Morgen Journal”. But it’s different for people over 80, for whom a booster-booster could be helpful, according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The Austrian recommendation also sees it similarly for “high-risk individuals, “Including immunosuppressed individuals and people aged 65 and older. Here, a shorter duration of the vaccination protection is expected.

Convalescents should not be vaccinated until the fall

“For those, vaccination can be offered no earlier than six months after the third vaccination,” Paulk-Korinek said. Official recommendations are then expected to be released over the next few days. “But especially if there are pre-existing conditions, it is ideal to discuss this with your doctors.”

Those who have “only” been vaccinated twice and then became infected should wait these 180 days after recovery and then make up for the third dose. He said that those who have just now become infected during the record numbers have until the end of the summer anyway.

Conclusion: the fourth immunization is not necessary at present; thus, for older ones, a can, but no must. However, the Ministry of Health assumes that a new vaccination will be necessary for the fall.