This could ensure that they are about as well protected from infection as people with an intact immune system who received two doses, the experts reported in Geneva on Monday. You are a member of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Independent Advisory Board on Immunization Issues (SAGE). The third dose should be given between one and three months after the initial vaccination.
The SAGE team emphasized that their recommendation was not about a third vaccination for the general population. Rather, the WHO has called on governments that have a lot of vaccines to refrain from such offers. Instead, they should be giving their doses to countries that don’t yet have enough vaccine to protect those most in need.
In around 50 countries, especially in Africa, less than ten percent of people are vaccinated against the coronavirus. Sufficient vaccine is now being produced so that 40 percent of people in all countries of the world can be vaccinated by the end of the year. The problem is the unequal distribution. That urgently needs to be resolved.
With regard to the two Chinese vaccines Sinovac and Sinopharm, the Advisory Board recommends a third vaccination dose for all people over 60 years of age. Studies have shown that vaccination protection in this age group deteriorates faster than in younger people. A third vaccination dose with a vaccine from another manufacturer is possible.