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Should a booster dose also be given to young people in Belgium?
Should the third dose of the vaccine be extended to 12-17 year olds? The question is not settled yet. The Superior Council of Health has been seized of the question, and must issue an opinion soon.
On the set of the VRT, the virologist Pierre Van Damme, professor at the University of Antwerp returned to the subject. “It is exactly the same pattern as in adults. We find that in this age group, between 12 and 17 years old, after the basic vaccination that they have received, the effectiveness decreases,” he explained. .
This therefore makes it possible to limit the circulation of the virus among young people, where infections are now exploding with the arrival of Omicron. For the virologist, it would therefore be wise to open the recall campaign to adolescents. For this, he mentioned the epidemic figures for the months of October and November of last year. “The virus circulates a lot among very young children, because they have not yet been vaccinated. There is also very little circulation among young people aged 12 to 17, because at that time the vaccination rate was over 80 % . The booster must control the circulation of the Omicron.”
Towards a fourth dose?
While Israel has begun to administer a fourth dose of vaccine to its population, will it also be necessary to consider it here? “There is certainly no question of it for the moment”, assured Pierre Van Damme. “The booster is already having an incredible effect on hospitalizations and escalating care admissions.”
