“3rd dose is an absolute requirement for all adults 18 years and older”

Tayeb Hamdi, a researcher at Health Policy and Organizations, said on Friday that accelerating vaccination based on three-dose regulation would help Delta and Omigran cope and speed up their return to normal life.

“Given the dominant variability of the delta and the potential waves of the cold season, the third dose is an absolute requirement for all adults 18 and older five or six months after their second dose. The booster dose is effective within 48 hours and significantly reduces the risk of death compared to the two doses,” Said, “The acceleration of the vaccine based on the three-dose regimen will allow us to cope. Accelerate the return to Omicron and normal life.

In this sense, Dr. Hamdy stressed the need for citizens to support the measures taken by the government as soon as possible through full three-dose vaccination and strict compliance with preventive measures.

At the same time, the researcher stressed that those vaccinated in three doses would be well-armed against the Omigran variant, a variant that is more contagious than the delta, and somewhat more immune to post-vaccine and post-disease immunity.

“Omigron is more contagious than delta, only the degree of superiority is to be determined. The number of infections in South Africa has increased fivefold in one week, with a positive rate of 2% to 25% in two weeks. Half of them are infected. In the UK, the number of cases due to Omigran doubles every two or three days, ”he observes.

Compared to the delta variant, Dr. Hamdy noted that Omigron may be less potent, citing the observations of experts in the field.

He therefore argued that of the thousands of infections, deaths, or hospitalized or serious cases that have not been reported, most of the new cases currently in South Africa are juveniles, so caution should be exercised. People under the age of 40 take longer to determine the true level of the virus.

In addition, a study shows that people already suffering from Govit 19 have a threefold higher risk of re-infection with Omigran compared to previous types, the expert said, adding that this new variant inhibits acquired immunity. By vaccination or disease.

Citing the initial results of a study in South Africa that compared this variant with the Pfizer vaccine, the researcher said that the neutralizing power of sera from the double-vaccinated population was reduced 41-fold compared to the original strain.

However, the serum of those who have been vaccinated twice and are already infected increases this potency by 35 times, which suggests that three doses have the same level of protection against omigran, which is comparable to two doses against the classic strain, A-D. – He adds.

Citing a German study, he pointed out that the serum of those vaccinated with two doses produced 25 times fewer antibodies against the omigran variant than the original virus, while this decrease was not observed in those receiving the booster dose.

Therefore, in addition to antibodies, the cellular immunity of D lymphocytes, which are not affected by mutations in this variant, with another type of defense, the body defends itself against the virus, he explained.

He concluded that the three-dose vaccine works well against this variant.

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