Pneumology Society recommends the government wait for scientific guidelines from governing bodies before offering the third dose

The institution says that it does not yet have the data to support a third dose.

The Dominican Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (Sdnct) recommended that the country’s health authorities complete the recommended COVID-19 vaccination schedule for the entire population while awaiting guidelines based on scientific studies and approved by the governing bodies on the subject that support the application of a third dose.

“We still do not have the availability of data with sufficient scientific rigor or guidelines from a regulatory agency that would allow us to support this recommendation of a third dose, since there is no information available so far,” the Sdnct said in a document sent to the media.

The institution indicated that “we should not ignore the possible need for an additional dose in any of these vaccination schedules, since the pandemic is still ongoing and we do not have the answer to possible scenarios.”

The Sdnct requested health authorities to report information on how many of those vaccinated with two doses have presented moderate to severe COVID-19 and what was the case fatality rate.

In the statement, the entity stressed that it is a priority to ensure that the entire Dominican and foreign population residing in the country completes the initially recommended two-dose schedule as soon as possible.

The Health Cabinet informed last Thursday that the application of a third dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 is already a fact, with the objective of protecting the population from the mutations of the virus, which have caused outbreaks in other countries.

The third dose will be one month after the second one and will be from a different pharmaceutical company than the two previous ones, according to the Vice President of the Republic, Raquel Peña, during a brief press conference at the National Palace.