The Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (Minsa) applies the Sputnik Light vaccines that it purchased in large quantities last September as a booster dose. According to the information provided in the country’s health centers, this third dose is provided two months after completing the two-dose schedule of the Sputnik V and AstraZeneca or Covishield vaccines.
In addition, people who were vaccinated with Sputnik Light receive a second dose as a booster of this same component after two months. The criteria that the Minsa considered to allocate this vaccine as a booster and why it is supplied so few months apart are unknown.
the epidemiologist Leonel Argüello explains that booster vaccinations are recommended six months after completing the two-dose scheme, and that in vaccines that require a single dose, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, a booster is recommended after two months to raise the antibodies.
“The Sputnik Light vaccine is the first dose of Sputnik V. There is not enough published scientific evidence that a single dose works, as promoted by the manufacturers; so a second dose or reinforcement is the right thing to do”, he clarifies.
You can put a different reinforcement
The doctor points out that the vaccines can be interchanged, that is to say that the booster does not necessarily have to be of the same type of vaccine that completed the first doses. However, not all combinations have been studied.
“AstraZeneca or Covishield can be combined with Pfizer, Moderna or Sputnik V or Sputnik Light; Pfizer with Moderna and Jansen: Sputnik V with Sputnik Light, Moderna and AstraZeneca or Covishield; and Sinopharn with AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna or Sputnik depending on the age of the person”, he details.
Until now, the only booster doses provided in Nicaragua are to people who completed their regimen with Covishield or AstraZeneca and Sputnik V and their one-dose version. This is mainly due to the fact that it was not until the last quarter of the year that other types of vaccines arrived in the country and vaccination was extended to the entire population over two years of age. There is no information on which booster the pregnant women who were inoculated with Pfizer will use, nor is it known who has received doses of Sinopharm.
According to the manufacturers of Sputnik Light, this vaccine offers protection that increases between four and six months after applying it, and there are studies carried out by themselves that show high percentages of safety and efficacy when combining it with AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Moderna.
According to the Russian Fund for Direct Investment, when used as a booster for other vaccines, Sputnik Light is over 94% effective against hospitalization and over 83% effective against infection. Likewise, last December they assured that the reinforcement with this vaccine is effective.
“Vaccination with Sputnik V and revaccination within six months with Sputnik Light currently offer good protection against the omicron variant.”said the director of the Gamaleya Center, Alexandr Ginzburg, who also assured that Although the efficacy of this omicron vaccine decreased compared to other variants, it is “four to seven times higher” to that offered by other vaccines.
eight million doses
The latest update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) indicates that the Minsa has already applied 8.1 million vaccines against covid-19, with these the country reached a coverage of 46.8% with two doses and 74.5% with one.
Although the booster doses have been applied since November 2020, there is no information on the amount supplied. There are also no details about the third doses of Cuban vaccines, which use a three-vaccine schedule and are used for children over two years of age and adolescents.
In total, Nicaragua has more than 14.4 million doses of seven types of vaccines. Of this sum, 32% are AstraZeneca vaccines and 25% are Sputnik Light. A donation of two million Chinese vaccines from Sinopharm is expected to come in the coming months.
“We have 100% of the vaccines to apply to the Nicaraguan population and we also guarantee the vaccine that is going to be used as a reinforcement for the schemes or in the case of Sputnik Light, that second dose,” Health Minister Martha Reyes said in a recent interview.
He also explained that later, when the round of reinforcements is completed, the application of a fourth dose will be assessed, which is already administered in other countries such as Spain, Greece and Israel, which have higher levels of vaccination.
