MINISTER of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, has said that the government is considering the recommendation by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States, to offer booster doses to persons 12 years and older.

According to the CDC, adolescents between 12 and 17 years old should receive a booster shot five months after their initial Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination series.

“…that’s something we will also be looking at because our population between 12 to 17, we’ve only been giving them the primary dose, that’s the first and second dose, and now we’ll probably have to consider whether we should administer the booster dose,” Dr. Anthony said during Thursday’s edition of the COVID-19 update.

Additionally, on March 29, the FDA advised that countries could now administer a fourth COVID-19 booster dose to their population.

“The recommendation is that the fourth dose should be administered to people who have underlying conditions that result in immuno compromise… The second condition is that they have generally recommended it for anybody 50 years and older,” Dr. Anthony said.

He said scientific data has shown that a fourth dose vaccine is “very protective,” so the ministry will be considering the administration of a fourth dose for persons 50 years and older. He again reiterated the importance of getting inoculated against the disease.

“When you get vaccinated, you’re giving your body a chance to quickly react when it comes in contact with the virus. If not [vaccinated], it would take a long time, and during that period you can develop other complications so it is important to get vaccinated,” Dr. Anthony said.

He reminded persons that immunity reduces approximately six months after taking the second dose of a primary vaccine, so it is important for persons to take their booster shot in order to be protected against the disease. (DPI)