MinSalud approves fourth dose for immunosuppressed and transplant patients in Colombia

In the last few hours, changes in the guidelines in the vaccination plan against covid-19 were known, in which a fourth dose would be included. The announcement was made by Gerso Bermont, director of promotion and prevention of the Ministry of Health during the Unified Command Post.

Thus, as of today, it is authorized, by Resolution 419 of 2022, the application of second boosters for patients suffering from autoimmune diseases, who have undergone transplants or are undergoing immunosuppressive treatments.

The application of second boosters is being authorized “for all diseases such as leukemia, myeloma, lymphomas, people on chemotherapy, with autoimmune diseases, all those who receive immunosuppressive treatment and primary immunodeficiencies,” Bermont explained.

He also specified that this fourth dose will be applied if the attending physician considers it appropriate under his medical criteria, adding that the Ministry “should not put up barriers to access”.

And he specified that “the application of a second booster for population with particular clinical conditions under medical recommendation, will be done 30 days after the application of their third dose”

Another modification to the guidelines of the vaccination plan announced by Bermont was that it also endorsed the use of heterologous vaccination to complete schedules, that is, vaccines other than those applied in the first doses may be used for second doses and boosters.

“Just as we have been talking about heterologous for reinforcements, heterologous vaccination is allowed, to complete schemes,” he said.

For example, if a person received the Pfizer vaccine in their first dose, there will be no problem if they receive one from Moderna, AstraZeneca or Sinovac in their second dose. He added that the application of the Janssen vaccine is also part of the package of possibilities of homologous and heterologous vaccination for the application of boosters.

Finally, he pointed out that the Pfizer vaccines that they have in the territory today can be stored for up to nine months in deep-freezing. For up to two weeks after deep-freezing at -25° to -15°.

“After being thawed, 30 days for application. And after being diluted, six hours for its application,” Bermont explained.

Also during the PMU, the official pondered that 82% of Colombians already have a dose, that is, “41 million people who have approached vaccination posts. Having this population vaccinated puts us globally above countries such as Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, among others.”

But he stressed that there are still challenges in terms of vaccination. “There can be no half-vaccinated people in the country. We see how, in the population aged 12 to 29, only 62% have their complete scheme, and in the 3-11 age group, only 38.1%. This worries, we must protect them,” the official warned.

He concluded by saying that “9.7 million people have already received their booster dose, which is key to ensuring sustained immunity. We get nothing out of 80% of the population with one dose, or figures above 70% in second doses, if we don't sustain immunity, mainly in older adults.”

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