People infected by Covid should wait six months for vaccination, says Spanish government
Spain’s government has ordered individuals who have been infected with the virus to wait for six months before being vaccinated, based on growing evidence that antibodies developed in response to Covid offer long-lasting immunity.
In its updated vaccination strategy, due to be presented to the country’s regional authorities on Wednesday, Spain’s health ministry said cases of reinfection were “exceptional”, and recommended that those who have had Covid be put at the back of the queue.
The instructions currently apply to key workers 55 or younger, the next priority group to be included in Spain’s vaccination campaign and who are set to be given AstraZeneca jabs.
Spain is thought to be among the first countries to impose such a policy.
“The number of documented cases from reinfection is very low in the first six months after infection,” explained the new vaccination strategy document.
Spain’s health ministry decided last week that the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be administered to people older than 55 due to a lack of clinical data on the drug’s effect on older people.
For key workers and people from other risk groups of 56 and over, the plan is to vaccinate them whether they have had a Covid infection or not.
Results from a study by Public Health England released in January suggested that the protection from reinfection from Covid created by naturally occurring antibodies was between 83 and 99 per cent.
The results were based on two probable and 42 possible cases of reinfection among health workers within five months of testing positive.
The Spanish government’s decision is in line with the advice from several public health organisations, including the national immunological society, who have called for a gap of up to eight months between a person being infected and having a Covid vaccine.
“We must prioritise and advance at the highest speed possible, optimising each dose received to ensure it reaches the citizens who need it most,” the letter addressed to Spain’s health ministry says.
The WHO also says that people who have had Covid-19 can wait six months before being vaccinated.
As of Monday, Spain had administered 2.17 million doses - mostly of the Pfizer vaccine - with 839,000 people having received their second jab.
According to the government’s new strategy, under-55s who test positive for Covid after having their first dose should also wait six months before their second jab.
A recent study found that those who have already been infected with the virus had a far higher antibody response following vaccination than those who had not been infected and may only need one jab.
