Covid-19: UK will offer third vaccine dose to severely immunosuppressed people
Jacqui Wise
Abstract
Covid-19: UK will offer third vaccine dose to severely immunosuppressed people Jacqui WiseThe UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended that people with severely weakened immune systems should have a third vaccine dose as part of their primary vaccination schedule against covid-19.The third dose of either the Moderna or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should be offered to people over age 12 who were severely immunosuppressed at the time of their first or second dose, including those with leukaemia, advanced HIV, or recent organ transplants.For 12-17 year olds the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is preferred.The JCVI is still deciding on the benefits of booster doses for the rest of the population and is awaiting further evidence to inform this decision.The committee has based its new advice on preliminary data from the Octave trial, which showed that almost everyone who was immunosuppressed did mount an immune response after two doses, as indicated by either antibodies or T cells-but in around 40% of people the levels of antibodies were low.It is not yet clear how much this may affect their protection against covid-19.The JCVI has said that studies are ongoing to see how effective a third dose is in immunosuppressed people, but it is very unlikely to cause significant harms or disadvantages and may offer some benefit.