- The first challenge remains to achieve high coverage rates with the primary series and booster doses.
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| WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva, Switzerland. |
The Technical Advisory Group on the Composition of the covid-19 Vaccine (TAG-CO-VAC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), with the support of its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization, have issued two statements emphasizing that vaccines protect against "serious" disease and "death" in all variants.
"The priority remains to achieve high coverage rates with the primary series and booster doses in the highest use groups and high priority in all countries," the agency said, to warn that the appearance of new variants.
In addition, it has been reported that the inclusion of Omicron in a modified vaccine composition and administered as a booster dose is expected to amplify immunity while retaining protection against serious illness and death.
The WHO emergency use list of a vaccine product with a modified composition or its approval by a strict regulatory authority will allow SAGE to provide policy recommendations for its use.
Main objectives
The first purpose of vaccination against covid-19 is to reduce hospitalizations, serious illnesses, and deaths, and to protect health systems. The use of currently licensed vaccines based on the index virus (i.e., the virus that was identified from the first cases of covid-19 in December 2019) confers high levels of protection against severe disease outcomes for all variants. , including Omicron with a booster dose.
There has been continuous and substantial evolution of the virus since SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2019, and this evolution is likely to continue, resulting in the emergence of new variants, particularly those with changes in the spike protein. . The evolutionary trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 remains uncertain and the characteristics of future variants cannot yet be predicted.
"Given these uncertainties, it may be prudent to pursue an additional goal of COVID-19 vaccination of achieving broader immunity against circulating and emerging variants while maintaining protection against severe disease and death," the WHO said...
It may be prudent to pursue an additional goal of covid-19 vaccination of achieving broader immunity against circulating variants
Available data indicate that the inclusion of Omicron, as the most antigenically distinct SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern, in an updated vaccine composition may be beneficial if administered as a booster dose to those who have already received a primary series of vaccination against COVID-19.