The World Health Organization recommends that no more booster vaccines be administered to the general population

Vaccine experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) today recommended it The Covid-19 booster vaccines are no longer given to populations that are not in high-risk groupsdue to the high level of immunization achieved by the population in many countries.

As indicated by the reviewers, the need for a booster dose, between six and 12 months after the previous dose, It is preserved only in groups that include the elderlyand health workers and immunodeficiencies.

For the first time these experts, from the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Vaccines (SAGE), They divided the population into three groups at risk (high, intermediate and low): The need for new boosting potions remains only for the first, which includes the three groups mentioned above.

“It’s a reflection because a large part of the population has already been vaccinated, or infected with Covid-19, or both at the same time,” said Hannah Nohaink, SAGE chair.

For people at average risk of contracting Covid-19 (adults under 60 and children or adolescents with certain health problems), SAGE recommends only A full initial dose of the vaccine plus another booster dose after the necessary period (something already completed in many countries in 2022).

Although additional reinforcers are safe for this group, SAGE does not recommend them routinely, given the relatively low returns to public health.”they completed.

In the low-risk group (children and adolescents) SAGE recognizes the benefits that vaccines and booster doses can have in preventing them, although they recommend Reconsider your immunization.

The public health impact of vaccinating healthy children and adolescents is Relatively much less than the stated benefits Conventional basic childhood vaccines, such as rotavirus, measles and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.”

With regard to infants, SAGE confirms that “the severe Covid-19 burden in children under 6 months of age remains higher than in children 6 months to 5 years of age”. Vaccination of pregnant women, even with an additional dose if it has been more than 6 months since the last doseprotects them and the fetuswhile helping to reduce the likelihood of children being hospitalized.”

“Each country must consider its specific context When deciding whether to continue vaccinating low-risk groups such as healthy children and adolescents, as long as it does not compromise other important immunizations, Nohaink said at the news conference.

According to the report, countries like Argentina – who already have a policy on extra reinforcements – “They have to assess the need It evolves based on national disease burden, profitability and opportunity costs.”

Meetings are also discussed Global vaccination programs against other diseases, in case malariaOne of the first vaccines designed against it, RTS,S, has been tested in Ghana, Malawi and Kenya since 2019.

The vaccine has shown to significantly reduce cases of severe disease among children, highlighted SAGE, which noted that 28 other countries have shown interest in introducing this product into their health networks.

On the other hand, experts expressed concern about the low prevalence of the epidemic in measles vaccination programs, as about 25 million children were infected with it, causing the lowest coverage rate since 2008.

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