WHO says COVID boosters should go to most vulnerable, reversing previous stance

The World Health Organization announced Friday that COVID-19 vaccine booster shots should be available, starting with vulnerable groups, reversing earlier views that they were not necessary for healthy people.

The United Nations health organization said at a press briefing in Geneva that it will recommend Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine boosters four to six months after receiving a second dose, the Associated Press reported.

The organization said the booster rollout should start with the most high-risk groups. Dr. Kate O’Brien, the WHO ‘s director of immunization, vaccines and biologicals, said at the briefing, adding that while boosters are “part of the vaccination program,” that should not mean “unfettered use to all ages.”

“We continue to have highest focus on vaccination of highest-priority groups,” she said.

According to the WHO West Pacific’s website, people over ago 60, people with underlying health conditions like heart disease and people with conditions affecting their immune systems are at the highest risk of more severe infection or health complications from the virus.

The decision to recommend boosters is a reversal of the WHO’s earlier stance, which was to hold off on booster rollout until more countries could access the first two doses. In a statement last updated on December 22, the WHO called for a moratorium on boosters for healthy adults until the end of 2021 “to counter the persisting and profound inequity in global vaccine access.”

This request went largely ignored by the world. Data from Statista shows that 94 countries have given booster shots, with more than 50 percent of the population in Chile, Israel and the U.K. already receiving a booster as of January 17.

Around the world, about 11 percent of people have received a booster as of January 17.

AP reported that the WHO’s group of vaccine experts considered the vaccine’s effectiveness waning over time and the booster’s ability to protect against severe illness amid the Delta and Omicron variants as reasons to recommend the booster.

However, some studies show that the booster does not block Omicron. A study published in the Lancet showed several Germans between the ages of 25 and 39 visiting South Africa between November and December of 2021 experienced breakthrough infections despite all of them receiving a booster shot. While the vaccine did not stop infection, all the cases were mild to moderate, suggesting the booster still protected against severe illness.

The WHO also recommended vaccines for children as young as 5 in its announcement, AP reported.

Just two days prior to the WHO’s announcement, the organization discouraged countries from providing boosters to healthy children and adolescents. According to Reuters, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said there is “no evidence at all” for that group needing one, instead asking countries to favor the high-risk groups as well as health care workers when providing them.