It is necessary to get the 3rd and 4th booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine due to new developments of the epidemic.

Nghe An has vaccinated children aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19 in all localities. Photo: Thanh Chung

At the press conference providing information on COVID-19 vaccination organized by the Ministry of Health on June 27, Dr. Vuong Anh Duong - Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Ministry of Health, said that scientific evidence has shown that the third booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine will prolong the effectiveness of disease prevention for 3 months, especially the fourth booster shot is very important.

Dr. Vuong Anh Duong shared that a recent study published by the world's leading medical journal NEJM showed that the protective effect after the fourth vaccination can be recorded at all 5 levels of the disease, including protection against disease, symptomatic disease, hospitalization, severe and critical hospitalization, and disease leading to death.

Specifically, the protective efficacy against COVID-19 infection is 52%; the protective efficacy against mild symptomatic infection is 61%; the protective efficacy against the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 infection is 72%; the protective efficacy against severe, critical COVID-19 infection is 64%; and the protective efficacy against the risk of death due to COVID-19 infection is 76%.

Press conference providing information on COVID-19 vaccination held by the Ministry of Health on June 27. Photo: VGP/Hien Minh

Another evidence in Vietnam, Dr. Vuong Anh Duong said, the COVID-19 treatment management system of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Ministry of Health recorded that out of 32,212 deaths due to COVID-19, up to 52.8% of the deaths were not vaccinated against COVID-19; 29.8% had received 1 or 2 doses of vaccine and only 7.3% had received 3 doses.

"This data once again confirms the necessity of performing the first booster shot (3rd shot) for those who have completed the two basic shots," Dr. Duong emphasized.

The leader of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment also pointed out that studies around the world, including studies in Vietnam, also show that antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 will decrease significantly after about 15 weeks of the third injection, especially antibodies against the Omicron variant. Therefore, the fourth injection is especially useful for people aged 50 and over; people aged 18 and over with moderate to severe immunodeficiency; people aged 18 and over in high-risk groups exposed to COVID-19 such as medical staff, frontline staff (police, military, teachers, people working in the field of transportation, people providing essential services, people working at tourist service establishments, shopping malls, supermarkets, markets), workers, people working in industrial parks.

We need to look at the trend of decreasing cases and deaths more cautiously.

Also at the press conference, the Acting Chief Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam said that up to now, the organization has always urged governments to ensure COVID-19 vaccination for people and ensure the final stages of vaccination, especially for high-risk groups.

WHO recommends that countries should increase booster vaccination after the primary dose, in which the booster dose should also prioritize high-risk subjects.

"Currently, the evidence shows that the benefits of booster vaccination are very clear in disease prevention, if infected, the symptoms are less severe and milder. In addition, globally there is a downward trend in cases and deaths, however, just last week the number of cases and deaths in the world was still high, so we need to take this downward trend more cautiously," the WHO representative emphasized.

The WHO Representative in Vietnam also shared that the current epidemic is not over yet, and epidemiological factors cannot be ignored, because many countries are no longer testing, so reports are no longer clear. Therefore, COVID-19 cannot be considered a mild disease, and healthy people and those who have been vaccinated can still get sick.

In addition, countries still have variants circulating and developing, while many countries have opened up travel. This will be an opportunity for the variant to develop faster, for example, variants BA.4 and BA.5 are increasing in incidence globally.