Fourth dose of vaccine may be needed to protect from Omicron variant, says Greek professor

A fourth dose of vaccine against Covid-19 may be needed later on in the pandemic to protect the general public from the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, microbiology professor and member of the Greek Health Ministry’s committee of experts on the pandemic, Athanasios Tsakris said on Thursday.

Tsakris said the issue is being discussed among pharmaceutical companies but much more data will be required to know how the variant will behave.

“The specially formulated vaccine, if needed, can be prepared in a short time. However, clinical data is needed in order to give the green light in time for its administration. The information we have is that this whole process will take 2-3 months,” he told Skai TV.

Thursday morning, Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced the first confirmed case of the Omicron variant in Greece. Patient “zero” is a Greek national who returned from South Africa to Crete on November 26.

PS Interesting example: one woman to whom a health worker administered the whole 5 doses of a vaccine vial last week on Crete. The 73-year-old woman was hospitalized for preventive reasons. Speaking to media, her son reported that she only had  some fever, however, no other serious side-effects. He added, though that the stress and the psychological burden were big.

The health worker claimed “work overload” that made him forget to mix the vaccine and therefore he administered all 5 doses of the vial. Realizing his mistake, he immediately informed the (over)-vaccinated woman and the authorities.