France recommends single coronavirus vaccine dose for those previously infected
- France’s public health authority said that people who had already been infected retain an immune memory that calls for only a single dose
- It recommended a gap of between three and six months after infection before individuals who had recovered from Covid-19 receive a jab
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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 on 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.
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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.
As of Thursday, over 2.1 million people had received at least one vaccine dose, with almost 535,800 having already received two.
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At least 3.4 million people have had confirmed Covid-19 infections in France, although there are likely to have been far more given the relative lack of accessible testing during the pandemic’s first wave.
Two recent US studies suggest that a single vaccine dose may work in individuals who have already recovered from Covid-19.
One paper said that immunity in individuals who had Covid-19 and then received a single vaccine dose “is equal to or even exceeds” that of people who have not had Covid-19 but received two vaccine doses.
