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Prioritise health staff for 3rd dose: G. Wijesuriya

09 Sep 2021

  • Medical Services DDG says will be needed in ‘few months’
By Pamodi Waravita Health Ministry Medical Services Deputy Director General (DDG) Dr. G. Wijesuriya told The Morning yesterday (9) that a third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine must first be given to healthcare workers who received the Covid-19 vaccine during the first round of the vaccination drive in January this year, as the need to administer a third dose would arise within the course of a few months. “In a few months, the country will face the need for a third dose as well. When this need arises, healthcare workers who got their first dose in January must be prioritised, as they are the most important in these pandemic control measures,” said Dr. Wijesuriya. He added that the third dose necessarily need not be from the same type of vaccine that was given during the primary inoculation. The Sri Lanka Medical Association’s (SLMA) report of recommendations on the third dose highlights that a third dose is “given to some individuals who may not have mounted a sufficiently strong immune response after the primary series (two doses) and would need an additional dose to acquire protective immunity”. On the other hand, a booster shot is defined as a “vaccine dose to be given after the primary vaccination (two doses) for the purpose of increasing immunity when the initial immune response wanes”. Thus, the SLMA recommended in a press release on Wednesday (8) that people over 60 years of age who had been given two doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, and those with a weak immune system, be given a third dose with the Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZ), Pfizer-BioNTech, or Moderna vaccines. The SLMA has also suggested that as there may be a waning of immunity with time, a booster dose, of the same vaccine type or a different vaccine, be given to people over 60 years who had been given two doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca, at least six months after the second dose.  


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