The European Union Agency for Infection Control (ECDC) will shorten the vaccination period to three weeks to combat the delta variant. The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIPH) maintains a 12-week period in Norway.
In a new recommendation, the ECDC states that the interval between two doses of coronavirus should be shortened to three weeks to provide protection against the delta variant of coronavirus.
This variant is now common in the UK and may be more contagious than the alpha variant that has dominated so far.
For NTB, the National Institute of Public Health says they will continue with Norway’s current vaccination period, which is a maximum of 12 weeks.
A single dose of an mRNA vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna protects well against diseases caused by the alpha variant, and slightly less than the delta variant. If delta develops after a single dose of the vaccine, the disease will likely be milder than in the unvaccinated and the risk of infection will be lower than in the unvaccinated, Sarah Fixmoin-Whatley, MD, chief medical officer of the FHI, tells NTB.
She also says studies from the UK show that protection against more serious diseases with the delta variant is still good after just one dose.
We expect continued control of the epidemic through effective implementation of current measures and continuous rapid vaccination of as many as possible. To reach as many people as possible with at least one dose as soon as possible, it makes sense to continue with a long interval between doses up to 12 weeks, Wattle says.
FHI says that at-risk groups who have not yet been vaccinated will have shorter intervals between doses to achieve full protection early.
(© NTB)
“Music amateur practitioner. Lifetime Entrepreneur. explorer. Travel fun. An unapologetic television scientist.”
