National Medical Taskforce updates booster protocol and guidelines in Bahrain
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Those who had received vaccines and recovered from Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection are now eligible to receive a booster dose. The earlier decision was that those who recovered in 2021 and completed two doses of Sinopharm, Pfizer-Biontech, AstraZeneca-Covishield, and Sputnik V were not eligible for a booster dose.
The new decision, announced yesterday by The National Medical Task Force for Combating the COVID-19 pandemic, updates this decision.
Accordingly, all those vaccinated and recovered from a COVID-19 infection are eligible to receive a booster vaccine 12 months after the date of their recovery. It is, however, not clear which vaccines they would receive.
The new decision also comes as the Kingdom is jumping up to the Green Alert level, starting today, on the COVID-19 alert system modelled on the Traffic light system.
The Task Force said all the decisions related to booster doses are taken based on studies carried out by the vaccination committee of the Ministry of Health and global best practices.
The National Taskforce also praised the citizens and residents for taking vaccines and booster doses, noting that it is crucial to safeguard public health. The officials also called on those who haven’t taken their jabs yet to register for the vaccine.
The statement also urged those who are eligible to receive booster doses to get them without delay. Bahrain earlier announced that 75% of the eligible individuals aged 40 years and above had received their booster doses.
The Medical Taskforce had also approved booster doses for those aged 60 and above and immunocompromised who are vaccinated fully for six months with Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca(Covishield) vaccine.
Based on data from more than a million users, Britain’s ZOE COVID study had earlier said that protection against COVID-19 offered by two doses of Pfizer/ BioNTech and the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines begins to fade within six months, highlighting the need for booster doses.
After five to six months, the effectiveness of the Pfizer jab at preventing COVID-19 infection in the month after the second dose fell from 88% to 74%. For the AstraZeneca vaccine, effectiveness fell from 77% to 67% after four to five months.
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