Third dose of Covid-19 vaccine now available for severely immunocompromised people

A third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is now available for people aged 12 and over who are severely immunocompromised, the Ministry of Health announced on Friday.

The move to provide the third dose comes after a recommendation from the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Group.

A third primary dose is different from the booster doses for the general population, which are not yet available.

Severely immunocompromised people are at higher risk of serious consequences from Covid and may not produce a strong enough immune response after two doses of Pfizer vaccine, said national director of the Covid-19 vaccination and immunization program Jo Gibbs .

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A third primary dose may be of benefit and could be given at least eight weeks after the second dose.

The eligibility criteria for having a third primary dose were complex, and those who met the requirements should be prescribed a third dose by their GP or other specialist, Gibbs said. They would need to present the script when getting the third primary dose.

Anyone aged 12 and over who was in the household or had close contact with an immunocompromised person was also strongly encouraged to receive two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

This would help provide indirect protection to the most vulnerable people in the community.

The technical advisory group continued to review research on booster vaccines, and would make a recommendation on boosters in the coming months, Gibbs said.

Cabinet would make a final decision on whether the general public would be able to have a booster vaccine. This would follow an assessment of Medsafe, which would be carried out once Pfizer provides more data.