Third dose vaccination.

At a later stage, a booster dose may also be offered to health professions and operators of health interest who carry out their activities in health facilities

Fedaisf editorial staff

4 October 2021

Circular from the Ministry of Health: avvio somministrazione dosi “booster” di vaccino anti COVID-19 a soggetti di età maggiore o uguale a 80 anni e personale e ospiti dei presidi residenziali per anziani.

At a later stage, a booster dose may also be offered to health professions and operators of health interest who carry out their activities in health facilities, social health and social welfare, public and private, in pharmacies, parapharmacies and professional studios, starting from subjects aged ≥60 years or with concomitant pathology such as to make them vulnerable to forms of severe COVID-19 or with a high level of exposure to the infection.

Regardless of the vaccine used for the primary cycle (Comirnaty, Spikevax, Vaxzevria, Janssen), considering the indications provided by the AIFA technical-scientific commission, for now it will be possible to use any of the two mRNA vaccines authorized in Italy (Comirnaty of BioNTech/Pfizer and Spikevax of Moderna).

The "booster" dose should be administered at least six months after completion of the primary vaccination course.

In line with what was highlighted by the CTS in the aforementioned report, the strategy for administering a "booster" dose may also include subjects with high frailty motivated by concomitant/pre-existing pathologies, subject to the opinion of the regulatory agencies.

The vaccination offer strategy in favor of further target groups or the general population will instead be decided on the basis of the acquisition of new scientific evidence and the epidemiological trend.

Note: Le terze dosi, viene chiarito nella Circolare, riguarderanno i vaccini a mRna. “La dose ‘booster” invece per gli altri e “va somministrata dopo almeno sei mesi dall’ultima dose”. Per dose booster, “si intende una dose di richiamo dopo il completamento del ciclo vaccinale primario, a distanza di un determinato intervallo temporale, somministrata al fine di mantenere nel tempo o ripristinare un adeguato livello di risposta immunitaria, in particolare in popolazioni connotate da un alto rischio.

In the Circular it is said that in at a later stage, a booster dose may also be offered to health professions and operators of health interest who carry out their activities in health facilities.

Although the ISFs do not officially belong to these categories, they fall into those set out in the Interim recommendations on SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccination target groups of the March 10, 2021, with which the categories of population to be vaccinated and the priorities have been updated and among them are the ISF.

Related news: CIRCULAR of the Ministry of Health THEntervallo temporale tra la somministrazione dei vaccini anti-SARS-CoV- 2/COVID-19 e altri vaccini. “In considerazione dell’avvicinarsi della campagna di vaccinazione anti-influenzale, è possibile che alcune categorie di soggetti per le quali la vaccinazione antinfluenzale stagionale è raccomandata e offerta attivamente e gratuitamente siano allo stesso tempo eleggibili per la vaccinazione anti- SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19”

Comirnaty and Spikevax: EMA recommendations on extra doses and boosters