The Ministry of Health (MoH) has officially shortened the interval period between the second jab and the booster shot for AstraZeneca, Pfizer, CanSinoBio, and Moderna recipients to just three months, bringing uniformity to the booster interval for almost all vaccine brands, with the exception of Johnson & Johnson’s two-month period.
Previously, only Sinovac recipients were eligible for the additional dose after only three months — due to the vaccine’s efficacy being found to be waning faster than other brands — while those who got the four aforementioned brands had to wait for six whole months before taking their boosters.
With the Omicron variant spreading rapidly throughout the globe and now within our borders, health authorities have taken up the strategy of ramping up boosters by making the shots mandatory for Sinovac recipients, as well as opening the eligibility to all vaccinated adults and reopening mega PPVs to cope with the demand.
The recommended booster for all adults is currently Pfizer, regardless of the brand received for a person’s primary vaccine, with AstraZeneca as an alternative. Sinovac boosters, which have been found to not be effective against Omicron, are available in limited amounts and are currently being given out for free only to those who are allergic to other vaccines.
(Source: MoH/Facebook)
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