The administration of the second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been scheduled to April 9 for people who got the first dose on February 12. This new change was announced by Dr. Laura Esprit, director for primary healthcare, in deference to new information obtained from WHO and PAHO.
Esprit said the world and regional health agencies increased the length of time between the first administration of the vaccine to the second from six weeks to eight weeks in order to achieve maximum benefits from the vaccine. To this end, people who got vaccinated on February 12 will now be vaccinated for the second time on April 9 instead of the March 26 date earlier hoped for, the primary healthcare director revealed.
Given the shift in date for the second administration of the vaccine, the government revealed that persons who had not been vaccinated at all have till Monday, March 29 to get their first shot of the drug.
Health Minister Irving McIntyre also urged persons who got the first shot to ensure they are available for the second shot. He said the first dose provides protection with antibodies, but the second dose brings the total level of protection to 95% for absolute immunity.
Given the amount of misinformation out there concerning the deadliness of the side-effects of the second dose, McIntyre said this is not true and that the side-effects are not as fatal as people erroneously claim. According to him, any instance of side-effects will be minimal and limited to headaches, fever, and joint pains. He said no major side-effects have been recorded in Dominica and in other countries around the world.
“You get those little side-effects with vaccines and nothing has been major,” he said. “Just a little fever, little chill, little joint pain, little headache – nothing of significance – so I really don’t think people should be so concerned about going for the second dose or I don’t think that should discourage people from going for their first dose.”
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