MILAN (Reuters) – All Italians will likely be offered a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines in 2022 and after that recurring boosters will be needed, Walter Ricciardi, a health ministry adviser, told daily Il Messaggero in an interview published on Wednesday.
Earlier this month Italy’s medicines agency AIFA approved the so-called booster shot for those likely to have weaker protection from the conventional two-dose inoculation schemes – immunocompromised people, those over 80 years old, nursing home residents and front-line health workers frequently exposed to the virus.
“As for the general population, we still have to wait,” Ricciardi told the paper. “It is presumable, however, that from next year a booster dose will have to be taken by everyone, with a certain regularity.”
(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Sabina Suzzi)
