Fourth dose may be required to tackle pandemic, expert says
A fourth dose of vaccine against Covid-19 may be needed later on in the pandemic to protect the general public from the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, according to Athanasios Tsakris, professor of microbiology and member of the Health Ministry’s committee of experts on the pandemic.
Tsakris said the issue is being discussed among pharmaceutical companies but much more data will be required to know how the variant will behave.
“The specially formulated vaccine, if needed, can be prepared in a short time. However, clinical data is needed in order to give the green light in time for its administration. The information we have is that this whole process will take 2-3 months,” he told Skai.
Asked about the third dose of the vaccine that has been rolled out in Greece, Tsakris said he is in favor of speeding up its administration to five months from the current six.
Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced Thursday that health authorities had identified the first case of Covid-19 caused by the Omicron variant, in a Greek national who returned from South Africa to Crete.
