The new Covid vaccines are arriving. While in the USA the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American body for disease prevention, have recommended vaccination against Covid-19 with an updated vaccine for everyone aged 6 months and older, in Italy, new vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech e Modern they will be available in 15 days and will be reserved for categories at risk of severe Covid. But they will also be offered free of charge to those who want to do them.
Are the new vaccines effective?
The new vaccines are designed against Omicron XBB.1.5 variant, which was the dominant virus in early 2023, and although this variant accounts for only 3% of cases to date, 90% of circulating variants are its close relatives. Therefore, experts assure, they will also work against these new subvariants. “Vaccination remains the best protection against hospitalization and death linked to Covid-19 because it also reduces the possibility of suffering the effects of long-Covid”, explain the CDC, thus motivating the choice of a mass vaccination, and which affects the quality of life of even the youngest population and consequently productivity. “Receiving an updated vaccine – recalls the note – can restore protection and provide improved protection against the variants currently responsible for most infections”.
Who can get the anti-Covid vaccine in Italy?
In Italy the vaccination campaign will start against Covid together with the anti-flu campaign for the 2023/24 season, as foreseen in the circular from the Ministry of Health, which should start at the beginning October. Although the EMA has authorized the use of the new vaccines on all age groups, it has opted to protect only those categories at risk of severe Covid: people over 60, people with high fragility, pregnant women and health and social care workers. Family members and cohabitants of fragile people are also advised to undergo vaccination. For people with marked compromise of the immune system or with very serious fragility, an additional dose may be necessary. The goal is to limit hospital admissions and deaths as much as possible.
Covid infections in Italy still on the rise
In the meantime, increase more and more i Covid infections. According to data released on Friday 15 September, 30.777 cases have been recorded in the last week (+44,4%) compared to 21.309 last week, as highlighted by the Covid-19 monitoring, carried out by the Higher Institute of Health and the Ministry of Health (ISS). The incidence also increased to 52 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants compared to 36 in the previous 7 days. As well as i admissions and intensive therapies. But at the moment the impact on hospitals, as specified by the ISS, "remains limited, although slightly and constantly increasing". In line with the incidence of Sars-CoV-2 which "remains low although constantly increasing".
The medical area beds occupied by positive patients were 2.378 as of September 13, equal to 3,8% of the total (62.352), compared to 3% last week. The experts' analysis therefore indicates a “transmissibility index Rt based on cases with hospital admissions slightly increasing compared to the previous week". The figure on 5 September was 1,20 (range 1,13-1,27), up compared to the previous figure of 1,12 and "still above the epidemic threshold".
Updated Friday 15 September at 15pm
