How is the procedure for receiving the fourth dose to travel abroad

Last week, the Ministry of Health of the Nation enabled the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines for people who have received Sputnik V, and must travel to countries that do not accept it, who will be able to apply any of the inoculants authorized by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The procedure for the application remained in the hands of each jurisdiction, which will be responsible for applying them with the roads that they already have and that were sent to them by the national health authorities.

These are people who, if not for the special circumstance of a trip, should not receive a new dose. Those who should receive it to strengthen their protection against the coronavirus are those over 50 who have two doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and immunocompromised patients.

The Ministry led by Carla Vizzotti explained that the decision was taken “in view of the postponement of the World Health Organization (WHO) inspection to evaluate the inclusion of Sputnik V in its list of COVID-19 vaccines for use in emergencies.” When approved by the international body, it will be accepted by a large part of the countries that currently do not consider it valid, such as the European Union and the United States.

It is within this framework that “the Ministry of Health of the Nation empowers jurisdictions to apply the required dose for travel purposes to those who have previously received Sputnik V. In this context and on the basis of society's demand for access to a complete scheme with vaccines authorized by WHO for the purposes of if they are able to travel to countries that request it, the jurisdictions are given the possibility of supplying the required dose”, he officially stated.

The Ministry of Health of the Nation “enables this possibility since Argentina has the doses necessary to start, complete schedules and apply doses of reinforcements throughout its target population,” he added.

Thus, while the Province of Buenos Aires has already implemented the procedure, the City of Buenos Aires had not yet defined how those who reside in the district should do it and should apply the fourth dose to travel.

The requirements in the province of Buenos Aires are as follows:

— In order to receive the fourth dose in order to travel, it will be necessary to present the documentation that proves the trip. The “air ticket, hotel reservation, etc.” will be considered valid

— Download the informed consent from the website www.vaccinatepba.gob.ar and print it

— Show up at any Buenos Aires post without a shift or prior registration to be vaccinated

— A minimum interval of four weeks must have been observed since the last dose was applied

The Ministry of Health of the Nation emphasized that “the application of these doses will be subject to the particularities of the person who requests it, depending on their state of health and having reached a minimum interval of four weeks since the application of the last dose. Since this vaccination responds to a personal decision, there must be a reliable confirmation of the trip and the signing of an informed consent explaining the conditions listed”.

Last Thursday, Minister Vizzotti announced the government's decision to allow the application of a fourth dose against COVID-19 with one of the WHO-approved vaccines to people who need to travel and have completed their scheme with the Russian-origin Sputnik V inoculant, not yet endorsed globally.

The minister admitted that it is not recommended to receive vaccines for those who are not in the specific group chosen to do so in order to improve their immune response. At the beginning of the vaccination campaign “we don't recommend going somewhere to get a vaccine and then receive another” because many people “traveled for one vaccine and came back and gave another one, we don't recommend it because of a health issue”, because “we know that overstimulation can give the system a hyporesponse” immunological, he said. “It's not a recommendation to get a vaccine just in case or anything,” he said.

People who have to travel abroad and need a qualified vaccine must present the ticket and justify it on personal, family, humanitarian, work, study, religious or recreational reasons, the minister said at the time.

“We are in contact with WHO and the progress achieved was enormous, the Gamaleya Institute and the Russian Federation submitted more than 800 documents, all documents, and the inspection visit was scheduled and the situation related to the war just happens and is postponed. What is being postponed is that WHO can make the evaluation to include Sputnik on the emergency list,” explained Vizzotti, referring to the crisis generated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

This is “a problem that is not sanitary, it is an inconvenience due to the decision of countries not to approve a vaccine that has proven efficacy, effectiveness and safety, but people are not to blame,” he argued. “From Argentina, since we have a stock of vaccines, so that everyone who has to start or complete the scheme and receive the reinforcement” so “we are enabling the dose,” he said.

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