The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands has started this Monday, September 26, the vaccination of the fourth dose, -also called the second booster dose-, against covid-19, adapted to the new variants of Ómicron.
This vaccination process will be aimed at the most vulnerable population, which includes people over 80 years of age and residents in nursing homes, who represent a total group of 100,000 people, and will gradually include other age groups.
Vaccination process
In this way, the vaccination of this target population will be carried out by appointment by the health centers, so users do not have to carry out any procedure to request an appointment, while the nursing teams will travel to the nursing homes to vaccinate the institutionalized people, as has been happening so far with the previous doses.
The population groups in which vaccination with the second booster dose will be prioritized may receive it after at least five months have elapsed since the last dose received against covid-19.
In case of recent coronavirus infection, people in nursing homes and disability centers, people over 80 years of age, children five years of age and older with risk conditions and people with a high degree of immunosuppression, may receive the second booster dose three months after the infection.
"Reminder" dose
The Canary Islands received last week the first batch of 273,600 doses -230,400 Pfizer and 43,200 Moderna- of the new vaccines against covid-19 adapted to the new variants of Ómicron for the vaccination of the second booster dose.
Experts have indicated that the new multivalent vaccines, -used as a "reminder" dose-, can enhance and expand the immune response, and therefore, the protection against all clinical manifestations.
They have also reminded that it is necessary to reach high vaccination coverage in the most vulnerable groups, regardless of their infection history, since booster doses are associated with greater protection against the ómicron variant and some of its subvariants.
