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Fourth dose may be needed if booster immunity wanes greatly after three months 

20 Jan 2022

  • Health authorities reviewing immunity-related findings 
BY Buddhika Samaraweera  The Health Ministry said that if the immunity of those who have obtained the booster third dose of the US-Germany manufactured Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine weakens to a great degree after some time, it may be necessary to administer a fourth vaccine dose. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (20), the Health Ministry’s Communications Director, Public Health Services Deputy Director General, and the Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Head Dr. Hemantha Herath noted: “We have no evidence yet to convince of the need for administering a fourth dose. There is a need to study how long the body’s immunity of people who have obtained the booster third dose lasts. If it drops after about three months, they may need to be given a fourth dose.”  He further said that the health authorities had been reviewing the lasting immunity of those who have obtained the Covid-19 vaccines since the early days, adding that the administration of the next dose would be decided based on the findings of such reviews. “According to the current findings, the immunity achieved by the first vaccine dose weakens after some time. The immunity created by the second dose lasts for a bit longer than that and the immunity achieved by the third dose lasts for longer than that. All such matters should be taken into account before endorsing a fourth dose,” Dr. Herath added. The State Pharmaceuticals Corporation recently announced that Sri Lanka has received the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses and the total number of booster third Covid-19 vaccine doses required, by 9 January.


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