By Carolina Pedrajas-Botella
The UK is trying to get as many people vaccinated with at least some protection against COVID-19. That’s why the government decided to extend the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine from the recommended time between the first and second doses to 12 weeks, instead of 21 days.
The Government’s idea is to protect as many people as possible with the first dose, giving patients short-term protection. This will prevent many people from being hospitalised.
Thousands of people in the UK have been waiting for their second shot of the COVID vaccine. Medical authorities have cancelled their appointments, or extended them to 12 weeks instead of three weeks.
This has been a debate that has divided the population, and even doctors and nurses on the frontline.
“I am confident that the second shot after 12 weeks is going to work perfectly fine. But I think that between the first and second shot, the hospital should control the patient and keep giving them a PRC every 15 days,” said Ana Antón Gonzalez, a doctor at Vega Baja Hospital in Spain.
However, not everyone has the same opinion. “If the pharmaceutical advice
gets the second shot within three weeks, I think that we should follow their
advice. Maybe extending the vaccine to 12 weeks might not work for
everyone,” says Irene Oliver, a medicine student at Universidad Miguel Hernandez in Spain.
According to the BBC, the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and
Immunisation (JCVI), says that the AstraZeneca vaccine is still effective when you get the second shot 12 weeks after the first one. Pfizer has declared that they have tested the vaccine and is only effective when the second dose is given up to 21 days after the first one
Dr Mike Osborne, president of the Royal College of Pathologists, told the
Guardian that the college supports the Government’s plan. He also noted that the data and information provided supports the government decision to delay the vaccine, from 21 days to 12 weeks.
But the British Medical Association (BMA) labelled the decision “unreasonable and totally unfair”.
“The Government must see that it’s only right that existing bookings for the oldest and most vulnerable members of our society are honoured, and it must also as soon as possible publish a scientifically-validated justification for its new approach,” it said.
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