WHO Director General denounces the concept of booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine

[ad_1]

On Monday, the director-general of the World Health Organization leveled a scathing rebuke at Pfizer and other vaccine makers focused on developing and selling Covid-19 vaccine boosts to high-income countries, saying that ‘They should instead focus on providing vaccines to countries that had little access to first doses.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ statement came four days after Pfizer said it had data to support its repeated claim that a third dose of its vaccine would be needed to maintain high levels of protection. He also singled out Moderna, which, like Pfizer, is developing updated vaccines targeting variants.

Were making conscious choices right now not to protect those who need it most, Tedros said in Geneva.

publicity

After 10 weeks of declining death rates, the global Covid-19 toll is rising again, the WHO director-general said. However, not all suffer the same blow. We were in the midst of a growing two-track pandemic where the haves and have-nots, within and between countries, are increasingly divergent, he added.

Tedros said the world needed Pfizer and Moderna to prioritize vaccine supply to low- and middle-income countries, including through COVAX, a joint venture of the WHO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. and CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

publicity

Pfizer said Israeli data from last week suggests that a third dose may be needed within six to 12 months of full vaccination. The company has not released the data, claiming only that a scientific article based on the results has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immediately backed down, insisting that people who are fully vaccinated do not need a booster just yet. Pfizer reportedly informed major U.S. government entities of the data on Monday.

But WHO officials said they had not seen any evidence to date to support the idea that people considered to be fully vaccinated will need additional doses anytime soon.

You may well need reminders after a year or two. But at this point, six months after the primary dose, there appears to be no indication, said Soumya Swaminathan, the agency’s chief scientist. Swaminathan said four countries have indicated they will offer booster doses to some or all of their populations and a number more are considering doing the same. She and other WHO officials urged countries to reconsider these decisions.

If 11 high and upper middle income countries decide they will opt for a booster for their population or even their subgroups, that will require an additional 800 million doses of the vaccine, Swaminathan said. Mike Ryan, head of health for the global health emergency program agencies, was adamant in his criticism of the approach.

How much of this is a global crisis don’t we get? he asked, saying the world should now focus on a total effort to immunize the most vulnerable health workers and the elderly.

We will look back in anger and we will look back in shame if we don’t move now to use the increase [vaccine] production capacity that comes in line to protect the most vulnerable, protect the world’s frontline health workers, Ryan said.

[ad_2]