Getting the booster dose of the COVID 19 vaccination is as important as getting the first vaccination doses because the COVID 19 virus mutates or changes overtime.
Deputy Controller of the National Pandemic Response Dr Esorom Daoni highlighted this in light of the uncertainty by the public on the matter.
“COVID 19 vaccines are effective against the known variants that we have seen so far, however the efficiency of the vaccines are reduced when the virus changes itself,” Dr Daoni said.
“As a result scientists advised that to increase our immunity to the changes, these boosters must be taken.”
The booster dose can only be given to a fully immunized person who has completed the two doses of AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines and the first dose of Johnson & Johnson.
“If you already got two doses of AstraZeneca, you are considered fully immunized so after six months, you get the third dose of AstraZeneca and a Johnson & Johnson booster.”
“If you have taken a single dose of Johnson & Johnson, you are eligible to get a booster shot of Johnson and Johnson after two to six months.”
“As for Sinopharm, if you have two doses of Sinopharm then you can either get a booster shot of Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca after three to six months.”
He added that as for how many times the booster shots will be taken depends on the behavior of the virus and what the scientists and pharmaceutical companies will recommend.
“At the moment it is premature for me to tell you how many booster you will have but we will be driven by the behavior of the virus.”