Spain authorizes third dose of coronavirus vaccine for those over 70 years of age

Spain decided Tuesday to administer a third dose of the vaccine against covid-19 to those over 70 years to improve their protection, announced the Ministry of Health.

The Public Health Commission decided “to expand the group of people to whom to administer a booster dose of the vaccine of the covid-19 to those over 70, at the end of October, and six months after the second dose, “the ministry said in a statement.

Up to now, Spain administered a third dose only to the elderly living in nursing homes and the immunosuppressed.

“A booster dose of mRNA vaccine against covid-19 will be provided (…) the objective is to increase the protection of the most vulnerable people,” the ministry explained.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved on Monday a third booster dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech anticovid vaccine for those over 18 years of age.

The agency also approved the provision of a third dose of Moderna or Pfizer for people with fragile immune systems, at least 28 days after the second dose.

At least 15 countries around the world have started administering a third dose to the most vulnerable people, including some EU countries, such as France, Italy and Germany, which did not wait for the green light from European authorities.