Covid, Bassetti: “Third dose error at all after 8 months, Pfizer is not the only vaccine”

“The third dose of the Covid vaccine should not be proposed as a dose for everyone: it would be a mistake because there are those who absolutely do not need it. It cannot be that at 8 months we do it to everyone without distinction. I am absolutely against it” . Matteo Bassetti, director of the infectious diseases clinic of the San Martino hospital in Genoa, says this to Adnkronos Salute, while awaiting the official announcement of the Biden administration which seems to be oriented towards the green light for all Americans starting from September . And after yesterday Pfizer-BioNTech sent the first data on the effectiveness of a ‘booster’ even against the Beta and Delta variants to the American FDA. “In the United States there is talk of a third dose between 6 and 12 months but one account is at 6 months and one account is at 12. One year later – says the infectious disease specialist – we all agree that probably a good part of we will have to take the third dose, which is then the booster one that is done once a year. Different speech instead – he underlines – for those in which, even before 6 months, it may be necessary to do the third dose “. Who I am? “One could think of all those who are over 70-75 years old, but – he clarifies – it will be necessary to evaluate on the basis of the data and those who have immune-depressing diseases will do a third. However – Bassetti recommends – this, unlike the first phase that it was a mass campaign, it must be an individualized campaign that looks at the needs of the individual “. According to Bassetti, we must also say “that it is not possible to think that in the world we do the third dose only with Pfizer, so be careful, because it is clear that the company is on its side. Then it is up to us doctors, as scientists, to say what it is right to do “. “What does this mean that we have to do the third dose only with Pfizer? Calm down, let’s be careful – warns Bassetti -. Let’s carefully evaluate the situation, decide who should eventually be given the third dose and with what type of vaccine. It is clear that not everyone can do Pfizer, someone will make Moderna and someone will do the others. But really – says the doctor – it seems to me the joke of a company that wants to sell only its own vaccine. I have always been very much on the side of multinationals – he remembers – but I would go a little cautious this time “. “Let’s not get carried away, just because the Americans do it and Pfizer says that their vaccine is better than the others. It is not – insisted Bassetti – a market for ham or cream to spread. Let’s see the data – he reiterates – and a Once we have seen them, the decisions on what to do will be made. My idea is that the third dose should only be given to some selected cases and probably not with a single vaccine but eventually the others will also be evaluated “. Then, adds the Genoese infectious disease specialist – if the third dose covers the variants better why do I have to wait 8 months to do it? I could also do it right away. But first I’d like to see the data, “he concludes.