WHO calls for pause on COVID-19 booster injections in high-income countries

Aug 19, 2021 – Current COVID-19 data does not show booster shots are needed, several World Health Organization officials said on Wednesday.

Completely vaccinated people still have a high degree of protection against coronavirus, they said. Instead, authorities should focus on vaccinating the world’s most vulnerable people before giving a third injection to those already vaccinated in high-income countries.

“We clearly believe that today’s data does not indicate that boosters are needed,” said Soumya Swaminathan, MD, WHO chief scientist. during a press briefing Wednesday.

The coronavirus circulates mainly in unvaccinated people, so the focus should be on people who have not yet received a dose, she said.

“I’m worried this will lead to more variants,” she said, as variants develop in people who are not vaccinated. “Maybe we are headed for an even more dire situation.”

Doubling the boosters in people who have been fully vaccinated will not end the pandemic as the coronavirus circulates around the world, public health experts says NPR. If variants continue to develop in unvaccinated groups in other countries, one of them is likely to become resistant to vaccines.

To slow the emergence of more contagious variants, countries should work together to provide equitable access to initial doses around the world before anyone receives additional protection, WHO officials said.

“There are enough vaccines in the world, but it’s not going to the right places in the right order,” Bruce Aylward, MD, senior WHO adviser, said at the press conference.

Billions of people have not received an initial dose, he noted. In low-income countries, less than 5% of the population is vaccinated, he said. And in middle-income countries, including most Latin American countries, about a third of the population has received an injection.

“The problem is, there aren’t enough people vaccinated,” he said. “So our first priority is relatively simple: get that many unvaccinated people with two doses before we go beyond that. “

The WHO press briefing took place just before US officials have announced Wednesday that booster shots will be widely available to all Americans starting September 20. Those who received the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccines will be eligible for a third injection after 8 months after their second dose.