Is the fifth dose of the anti-Covid vaccine recommended for those who have promiscuous sexual activity?

Good morning, I wanted to ask if in the case of highly promiscuous sexual activity, and in particular with homosexual relationships, is the fifth dose of the vaccine against Covid recommended?

The Sars-Cov-2 infection, which causes the Covid-19 disease, is transmitted by the respiratory route and not by the sexual route. Therefore, risky sexual activity should not make a person more likely to become infected. It is also true that subjects who have particularly intense sexual activity, in the promiscuous sense, with a prevalent homosexual component are at greater risk of other infectious diseases linked to the HIV virus, sexually transmitted viral hepatitis, especially B and C, and other bacterial infections. These subjects can develop a situation of immunodeficiency, i.e. a reduced response of the immune system also against other infections, such as Sars-Cov-2 for example.

The fifth dose of the anti-coronavirus vaccine, therefore, is recommended for people who have a greater vulnerability to infection in a severe form, i.e. subjects with immunodeficiency linked to an intercurrent disease, such as HIV viral disease, or to the use of drugs that lower the immune response. Conversely, people who have intense promiscuous sexual activity, predominantly homosexual, are not at risk of a greater Covid-19 infection and can therefore refrain from taking the fifth dose. However, as a precaution, they must make sure that they do not have other important viral infections, such as HIV, hepatitis C and B, because their presence lowers the immune system and consequently exposes more to severe forms of Covid-19 and in that case vaccination must be done.

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*Ignazio Grattagliano is Coordinator of the Italian Society of General Medicine and Primary Care (SIMG) Puglia