Variants of the coronavirus can cause the majority of new illnesses, which is why a third vaccination is justified for some vulnerable groups, the national chief medical officer told the public media on Tuesday.
Cecília Müller said: the third vaccination is recommended primarily for the elderly, those suffering from chronic diseases, and patients with weakened immune systems.
He added: according to the professional recommendation, those who received a vector vaccine for the first two vaccinations can receive a vaccine containing a killed virus or an mRNA vaccine as a reminder and vice versa. They expect a stronger immune response if a vaccine with a different mechanism of action is given as a booster shot, said the national chief medical officer.
He said: at the same time, it is also possible for someone to receive the same third vaccine as the one used for their basic immunization.
In each case, the vaccinator and the doctor treating the underlying disease decide on the type of the third vaccination, emphasized the national chief medical officer.
Cecília Müller announced that the third vaccination can be taken from August 1. Those who received the second vaccination at least four months ago can book an appointment for this on the www.eeszt.gov.hu website in the second half of the week.
He also talked about the fact that there are many people over the age of 60 who are not yet protected against the coronavirus at all. They are trying to convince them of the importance of vaccination in an action, because currently the vaccine is the only effective tool against the coronavirus, he pointed out.
He noted that the number of infections is low for the time being, but the number of cases has increased by 20 percent in recent weeks, and so far the delta variant of the coronavirus has been identified in Hungarian samples in 58 cases. They have no doubts that this variant will take over the "leading role" and that it will cause 80-90 percent of the diseases.
Cecília Müller added: the increase is also reflected in the wastewater data; in all three sampling locations in Budapest, and in four large rural cities - Pécs, Miskolc, Szekszárd, Salgótarján - the amount of genetic material of the coronavirus in the water samples increased.
He pointed out that there are European countries where the number of infections has increased by leaps and bounds, which is clearly due to the delta variant, but the vaccination coverage in these countries is not as good as in Hungary. He emphasized that, with more than 5.6 million people receiving the first dose and 5.3 million the second dose in Hungary, we are still at the forefront of vaccination in Europe.
Source: demokrata.hu
Featured image: MTI/Tibor Rosta
