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France on Friday recommended that people who have already recovered from Covid-19 should receive a single dose of vaccine, becoming the first country to issue such advice.
All three Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in the European Union are administered in two doses, delivered a few weeks apart.
This is because clinical trials have shown that immunity to the disease was significantly higher after individuals received two shots.
However, the French health authority in France said on Friday that people already infected with Covid-19 are developing an immune response similar to that given by a vaccine dose, and that a single dose after infection is likely to be sufficient.
“A single dose of vaccine will also play a role in reminding their immune system to fight Covid-19.
Authorities recommended a gap of three to six months after infection before individuals recovering from Covid-19 were stabbed.
“At the moment, no country has clearly positioned itself in terms of a single vaccination dose for people who have already contracted Covid-19,” he said.
Vaccination program has just started
France has accelerated its vaccination program over the past few weeks, but it is still in its infancy.
As of Thursday, more than 2.1 million people had received at least one dose of vaccine, of which nearly 535,800 had already received two.
At least 3.4 million people confirmed Covid-19 infections in France, although there would probably be many more given the relative lack of accessible testing during the first wave of the pandemic.
Two recent U.S. studies suggest that a single dose of vaccine may work in individuals who have already recovered from Covid-19.
One article said that immunity in individuals who had Covid-19 and then received a single dose of vaccine was ‘equal to or even greater’ than that of people who did not have Covid-19 but received two doses.
A vaccine still being developed by Johnson & Johnson works with a single dose, but it has yet to receive emergency approval from EU and US regulators.
(AFP)