[News] Why do some in the United States not apply the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine?

[#Steeven.™]

Doctors believe that a small number of people may simply have forgotten that they need a second dose.

8% of the US po[CENSORED]tion has not had the second dose, according to a New York Times report. While 8% of Americans do not return for a second inoculation, 92% of Americans do.

Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist with the Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Organization (VIDO), believes that “the data [from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)] was quite encouraging. While 8% are still millions of people, this also means that the vast majority of people get back on their second dose, which is really good, compared to many other vaccines, "she told DW.

 

Why do people skip the second dose?
According to Rasmussen, "there are some people who may have read that a single dose is sufficient", which is a false sense of security. Another reason could be post-vaccination symptoms.

"Some people may have had unpleasant side effects related to the first dose and decided for themselves that they didn't want to experience that again with the second," she said. Also, a small number of people may have simply forgotten that they need a second dose.

“I think their health care specialists have advised other people not to get a second injection, depending on whether they had an allergy or a history of a reaction to a vaccine. Probably very few cases, but I think that some people, for medical reasons, will have been advised not to inoculate with the second dose, "said Rasmussen.

Demographic and socioeconomic factors can also play a role. Likewise, according to Dr. Lisa Cooper, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, African-Americans particularly face structural barriers to accessing even the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has urged employers to grant paid leave for vaccination and in return offered tax credits to small and medium-sized businesses to cover those costs.

 

Is a single dose enough?
Experts have explained that, to have better long-term protection against COVID-19, two doses are necessary. Two recent studies from the UK Office for National Statistics and the University of Oxford showed that people experienced a strong antibody response after receiving either vaccine. One of the studies found a 72% reduction in symptomatic infections after a dose of Biontech / Pfizer or AstraZeneca. However, after two doses of BioNTech / Pfizer, there was a 90% reduction in symptomatic infections. Astrazeneca has no data yet.

Koen Pouwels, study author and researcher at the Nuffield Department of Health at the University of Oxford, says that receiving a second dose of vaccine leads to longer protection, as well as better protection against COVID-19. “If he looks at the antibody responses, the decline will be relatively rapid. The second dose is very protective and raises antibody levels a lot, especially in older people, ”he told DW. "It is very important to get that second dose," he assured.

 

Is a single dose of vaccine enough for those who have already had COVID-19?
A US study, conducted by the health care organization Cedars Sinai with more than 260 participants, showed that a “single dose of BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine for people who previously had COVID-19 generates an immune response similar to that of of people receiving both doses ”.

“Many people have had COVID-19, and the availability of the vaccine is still limited in most regions. Therefore, giving a single dose to people, who have overcome COVID-19, could significantly accelerate the number of individuals protected by immunization and help reach community levels that stop the spread of the virus, "he told DW by email Jonathan Braun, Professor of Medicine at the F. Widjaja Foundation's Immunobiology Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai, and a co-author of the study.