Johnson & Johnson vaccine, green light from the Technical Scientific Commission of the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa) at the booster dose for those who have received the single-dose anti-Covid vaccine. The CTS, speaking at the request of the Ministry of Health, considered that “for subjects vaccinated with Covid-19 Janssen it is appropriate to administer a heterologous booster dose with mRna vaccine (in the dosages authorized for the booster dose) starting from 6 months from the first dose “.
“Given that the Covid-19 Janssen vaccine is the only vaccine authorized with a single-dose schedule and that, in the vaccine field, a booster dose, or booster, can be considered a consolidated strategy for most vaccines – reads one Aifa notes – the opportunity to predict a booster dose appears to be supported by a solid rationale. The most recent evidence confirms the efficacy of a booster dose (especially with mRna vaccine) in enhancing the immune response to the Covid-19 Janssen vaccine ” .
Furthermore, “the available data indicate a substantial stability of the immune response, both humoral and cellular, up to 8 months after the administration of a dose of Janssen vaccine. Protection against serious illness, hospitalization or death is also substantially stable up to at least 6 months from vaccination “, the Cts of Aifa found,” on the basis of the in-depth investigation “carried out by the agency’s experts, who met yesterday to evaluate the request of the Ministry of Health on the recall for vaccinated people with a single dose of Janssen vaccine and its timing.
“At the same time, however, with the passing of the months a slow decline in vaccination efficacy is observed – it is emphasized – against mild / moderate forms of the disease”.
The circular of the ministry
Given the opinion of the CTS of Aifa ” it is represented that, as part of the anti Sars-Cov-2 / Covid-19 vaccination campaign, all subjects vaccinated for at least six months (180 days) with a single dose of Janssen vaccine will receive a booster dose with m-Rna vaccine in the dosages authorized for the booster (30 mcg in 0.3 mL for Pfizer / BioNTech’s Comirnaty; 50 mcg in 0.25 mL for Moderna’s Spikevax) ”. This is underlined by a circular from the Ministry of Health.