According to Western media reports, starting from Monday, September 26, more than 2.8 million elderly people over 80 will receive the fourth dose of Covid vaccine. This is the second booster shot, also in the context of the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) has celebrated the almost end of the pandemic and finally establishing a normal state in society as hospitals clear out patients with the virus. In this case, health officials and experts urge older people to get vaccinated because the virus is still mutating and their immune systems are so fragile.
According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, 2,515 people are currently hospitalized for people over 59 years old, of which 159 are in intensive care. Although infection, hospitalization and death have not stopped, the situation is completely different from when the Covid vaccine began in December 2020. The vaccine is effective. Since then, the largest population, the elderly aged 70 and above, has always been the group who trusts the new crown vaccine the most. Like the first two doses, almost 100% of the elderly have received three doses of the vaccine, followed by a fourth dose starting Monday. They hoped that the fourth dose would be as good as before.
When talking about why the fourth dose was to be given, she said, “The vaccine has always been very effective at 85-90%, but it does become less effective as people age,” Kanchukaya added. Over time, vaccine protection is declining - "It starts to decline after six months" .
European CDC asked EU countries to start vaccinating the most vulnerable population with a fourth dose of the vaccine several months ago. Some countries, such as Portugal, Spain chose to wait for pharmaceutical companies to develop new vaccines against Covid that were able to cope with the Omniron variant, which once again became the major infection virus in Europe since the end of last year, and has been largely proven to be resistant to existing serums , which has affected the most vulnerable populations to a greater extent. Finally, Pfizer and Moderna discovered new serums, updated for Omniron and its two variants BA.4 and BA.5. According to Darias a few days ago, 16 million doses of vaccine will arrive in September, and by the end of the year, there will be a total of 44 million doses, enough to vaccinate almost all of the Spanish population.
Our latest vaccine, the drug for treating COVID-19 should also be on the way. The fourth dose, maybe once a year, until it is discovered that it will completely stay away from the new coronavirus with just one shot, and we will eventually defeat it.
