Min Anthony says that Gov’t considering booster doses for adolescents

Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony disclosed that the government is considering the
recommendation by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and the US’ Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) of the United States, to offer booster doses to persons 12 years and older.
Dr. Anthony was speaking during Thursday’s COVID-19 update. He said that according to the
CDC, adolescents age 12 to 17 years old should receive a booster shot five months after their
initial Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination series. “…that’s something we will also be looking at
because our population between 12 to 17, we’ve only been giving them the primary dose, that’s
the first and second dose, and now we’ll probably have to consider whether we should administer
the booster dose,” the minister said.
Dr. Anthony revealed that on March 29 the FDA recommended that countries can now
administer a fourth COVID-19 booster dose to their population. “The recommendation is that the
fourth dose should be administered to people who have underlying conditions that result in
immuno compromise… The second condition is that they have generally recommended it for
anybody 50 years and older,” the minister said.
The health minister revealed that scientific data has shown that a fourth dose vaccine is ‘very
protective’ as such, the ministry will be considering the administration of a fourth dose for
persons 50 years and older. Minister Anthony is again reiterating the importance of getting
inoculated against the disease. “When you get vaccinated, you’re giving your body a chance to
quickly react when it comes in contact with the virus. If not [vaccinated], it would take a long
time, and during that period you can develop other complications so it is important to get
vaccinated,” Dr. Anthony said.
Minister Anthony is appealing to the public that immunity drops approximately six months after
taking the second dose of a primary vaccine, therefore it is important that persons be boosted
against the disease.