Mix vaccines, Bassetti: “Important for third dose”

A mix of doses, with different covid vaccines for each administration? “Knowing that, whatever vaccine I have done before, I can still go for another vaccine and it doesn’t change anything, in fact I have a good answer, I think it is important”. So Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the San Martino hospital in Genoa, comments on a British study to Adnkronos Salute that certifies the safety of the AstraZeneca-Pfizer mix for the first and second dose. “I was very cautious about this – recalls Bassetti – In fact I said ‘I would not mix vaccines’, instead they mixed and I would say that they have shown that they can be mixed. It seems to me a good message – he underlines – not so much for today when at the end people take the same vaccine because it is included in a path, as much as for the future, that is basically for the third dose that we will do in November-December-January “.” Even in Italy already immediately it should be said that vaccinated people can avoid putting the mask “, continues the infectious disease specialist, commenting on the new guidelines of the Centers for Disease and Prevention (Cdc) USA which provide for the fully vaccinated to return to normal life in full, without masks or social distancing.” Then there is the next step – insists Bassetti – which is to remove the obligation to wear a mask when we have reached 30 million vaccinated, which will take place in two weeks, for all at least outdoors “. The US position “is not new – underlines the infectious disease specialist – the CDC had already expressed itself more than a month ago on the fact that among the vaccinated the mask could be removed and that the vaccinated could not be quarantined or swabs. control in case you come into contact with an infected person – recalls Bassetti -. It seems to me to be a decision of absolute common sense and I hope that soon some common sense can be restored also in our country “. As for the transmissibility of the virus from vaccinated to unvaccinated, the infectious specialist clarifies: “The scientific data tell us that even if you get vaccinated, your viral load is 90% lower than that of an unvaccinated subject. therefore – he concludes – the ability to transmit the virus is truly infinitesimal. We cannot say that it is zero but it is very close to zero “.