The World Health Organization (WHO) expert group on immunization said that additional boosters of the covid-19 vaccine are no longer recommended for the average risk group, such as healthy adults under 60 years of age.
This recommendation was announced at a press conference by the chairman of the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), after the meeting that took place last week, in which it was decided to simplify the priority groups for vaccination against Covid -19, which are now classified as high, medium and low risk.
Hanna Nohynek explained that the decision to simplify the risk groups for the first time took into account that we live in the “Omicron era, with a reduction in the severity of the disease and with high population immunity, which was obtained through infection or vaccination” or even both.
In this sense, experts from various areas of the WHO have proposed a “different approach to primary and booster vaccination for each of these groups,” added the head of SAGE, noting that the update also took into account that the SARS virus -CoV -2 will continue to evolve.
In this sense, the WHO consultants consider that the high priority group includes older adults, young adults with comorbidities such as diabetes and heart disease, immunocompromised people (HIV and transplant recipients), pregnant women and health professionals from front line.
For this group, SAGE recommends giving an additional booster of the Covid-19 vaccine six to 12 months after the first booster dose.
According to the SAGE experts, the medium-risk priority group includes healthy adults, generally under 50 to 60 years of age, and children and adolescents with comorbidities, for whom primary vaccination and the first booster are recommended, but do not follow additional boosters, despite being safe.
The SAGE recommendation places healthy children and adolescents between the ages of six months and 17 years in the low-priority group, and countries should assess vaccination in this age group based on several factors, such as their specific context, the burden of the disease and their health priorities. .
Children with immunocompromised conditions and comorbidities face a higher risk of severe Covid-19 and are therefore included in high- and medium-risk priority groups, experts say.
SAGE also analyzed global vaccination programs against other diseases, such as tuberculosis, considering that “a vaccine is urgently needed to prevent the disease in adolescents and adults.”
Experts said a “substantial effort” is underway to develop vaccines, with several candidates in clinical trials and at an advanced stage, with the potential to receive regulatory clearance within three years.
Source: TSF
