Five categories to get second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on priority basis

RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian health ministry has announced five categories to be given priority to receive second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine without making any delay.

The categories include renal dialysis, active cancer, and organ transplant patients, obese persons, and those over 60 years of age, Saudi Gazette quoted the health ministry.

Dr Abdullah Asiri, who is the Assistant Undersecretary for Preventive Health at the Ministry of Health, disclosed that delaying the second dose anti-COVID-19 jab stimulates immunity better in some vaccines, calling on all not to worry about the delay in giving the second dose for some categories of the society, as this is for the public interest.

In a series of tweets on Twitter, Dr Asiri said, “Monitoring and following up of the post-first-dose immunity level for the anti-COVID jab, shows that there is no ideal period between the two doses.”

He added, “There are countries that have approved a three-month interval between the two doses. Meanwhile, other countries started scheduling for giving the second jab four months after the first dose. Therefore, it is the epidemic status and the demographic structure that are the decisive factors.”

Generally, taking the second dose is not a condition for international travel. The countries impose institutional quarantine measures on arriving passengers.

They see the rate of spread of the disease and the mutations in the countries from which these passengers have arrived, irrespective of the immunisation status of the passenger.