Status: 14.12.2021 3:27 p.m.
The decree came as a surprise: In North Rhine-Westphalia booster vaccinations should be given after four weeks. State chief Wüst now emphasizes: This is not a recommendation. The period is a “lower limit”. Immunologists are critical of this.
The North Rhine-Westphalian state government is relying on speed for third-party vaccinations against the corona virus. In a decree sent to districts and urban districts on Monday, among other things, it said literally: “However, people whose primary immunization was less than five months ago are not to be refused and also vaccinated – provided that a minimum interval of four weeks has been reached.”
Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst has now confirmed that the so-called booster vaccination can now also be given to residents who were only vaccinated four weeks ago.
No recommendation for such an early third vaccination
Wüst emphasized, however, that there was no recommendation to be vaccinated a third time so early after the full vaccination.
The CDU politician emphasized that “the whole time” had not been rejected anyone who wanted a booster a few days or weeks before the end of the five months after the second vaccination. However, it is not advisable to “run after four weeks” in order to receive the booster vaccination. With the “lower limit” of one month, “communicative question marks” should primarily be removed.
Do not endanger the “maturation” of the antibodies
The German Society for Immunology even warns against having the third vaccination following the full vaccination within such a short period of time. Carsten Watzl, Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, said that certain processes would first have to be completed in the body in order to achieve the “strengthening of immunity” desired by boosting.
Sufficient antibody-producing plasma cells and T cells would have to have formed, some would have to be converted into memory cells, others would have to migrate to the bone marrow, according to Watzl. And these processes are not yet completed after a month.
The President of the German Society for Immunology, Christine Falk, expressed a similar opinion. After four weeks the body is still busy with “maturing”:
Above all, the antibodies are improved once again – like when a good wine is matured.
A booster vaccination administered too early threatens to disrupt this process rather than support it. Both Falk and Watzl therefore advocated that the booster vaccination should take place after four months at the earliest. “When I then vaccinate a third time, the body has already developed the cells that are best tailored to the pathogen – and I want to strengthen them again. This means that the immunity is much better than if I vaccinate again after four weeks.” , emphasized Watzl.
Watzl insists on the STIKO assessment
From his point of view, the decision to allow such an early third vaccination was made out of fear of the Omikron variant. However, that is not “expedient”. It would be better to increase the rate of first and second vaccinations.
In addition, Watzl warned that politicians should not misinterpret the recommendation of the Standing Vaccination Commission for third-party vaccinations. The STIKO only advises people with a weakened immune system to have a booster vaccination after one month, since those affected “did not react or hardly reacted to the first two vaccinations”. In this risk group, immunity does not have to be strengthened, but first established with the help of a third vaccination.