Opinion of the AIFA Technical Scientific Commission on the administration of additional doses of vaccines against COVID-19
The Technical Scientific Commission of AIFA (CTS), meeting on 7-9 September 2021, expressed its opinion on the administration of additional doses of vaccine against COVID-19, answering the questions posed by the Ministry of Health. The CTS notes that the priority of the vaccination campaign remains the achievement of high vaccination coverage with the completion of the courses currently authorized to reduce the circulation of the virus and the development of variants and effectively prevent the onset of serious disease and deaths.
CTS deems it appropriate, pending EMA's authorization, to make Comirnaty and Spikevax vaccines available
- as an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine, at least 28 days after the last administration, to complete the vaccination course in adults and adolescents aged> 12 years (Comirnaty vaccine) or> 18 years (Spikevax vaccine) in clinically immunosuppressed condition relevant. Solid organ transplant recipients and subjects presenting, on the basis of clinical evaluation, an assimilable level of immunocompromise fall into this category.
- as a booster dose, in order to maintain an effective immune response to the vaccine after the completion of the vaccination cycle, at least 6 months after the last administration, in the elderly (> 80 years) and in patients hospitalized in RSAs. This option can also be made available to healthcare professionals, depending on the level of exposure to the infection, the individual risk of developing severe forms of COVID-19 and in accordance with the general strategy of the vaccination campaign.
For the additional dose it is planned to administer one of the two mRNA vaccines authorized in Italy (Comirnaty and Spikevax).
The AIFA Board of Directors, meeting in extraordinary session on 9 September 2021, approved the inclusion in the list of drugs provided for by law 648/96 of the additional dose of the Comirnaty (Pfizer) and Spikevax (Moderna) vaccines.
The provision will be effective from the day following its publication in the Official Gazette.