Berlin, March 31 (BUS) – Germany’s Independent Advisory Committee on Immunization is recommending a booster shot with a messenger RNA vaccine for people who have undergone a full course of four Chinese, Indian and Russian COVID-19 vaccines that are not currently approved for use in the European Union.
In a draft recommendation on Thursday, the commission, known by the German acronym STIKO, said the advice applies to people who have been given a full course as well as a booster for China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm, India-made Covaxin and Russia’s Sputnik V.
She said the new booster vaccine should be given at least three months after the previous vaccination, according to the Associated Press.
The German commission said that people who received only one injection of the four vaccines should start a new vaccination series.
She added that recipients of other vaccines not approved by the European Union should generally start a new series with a vaccine approved by European authorities.
Scientists believe mixing and matching vaccines leads to a better immune response.
The BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines were the mainstays of the German vaccination programme. Three other vaccines using different technologies have been approved for use in 27 countries in the European Union – AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax products.
mRNA vaccines have been shown to be better than others at protecting against newer variants such as Omicron.
insult