France suggests single dose for people who have had Covid

PARIS: France on Friday recommended that people who have already recovered from Covid-19 receive a single vaccine dose, becoming the first country to issue such advice.

All three Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in the European Union are administered in the form of two doses, delivered several weeks apart. This is because clinical trials showed that immunity against the disease was significantly higher after individuals received two shots.

France’s public health authority said Friday however that people who had already been infected with Covid-19 develop an immune response similar to that bestowed by a vaccine dose, and that a single dose after infection would likely suffice.

“A single vaccine dose will also play the role of reminding” their immune system how to fight Covid-19, it said. The authority recommended a gap of between three and six months after infection before individuals who had recovered from Covid-19 receive a jab.

“At the moment no country has clearly positioned itself in terms of a sole vaccination dose for people who have already contracted Covid-19,” it said. France has accelerated its vaccination programme in recent weeks but it is still in its infancy.