WHO calls for a halt on booster doses until at least end-Sept

GENEVA • The World Health Organisation (WHO) is calling for a moratorium on Covid-19 vaccine booster shots until at least the end of September.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus yesterday said this was to enable at least 10 per cent of the population of every country to be vaccinated.

"I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it," Dr Tedros added.

High-income countries administered around 50 doses for every 100 people in May, and that number has since doubled, according to WHO. Low-income countries have been able to administer only 1.5 doses for every 100 people, due to lack of supply.

"We need an urgent reversal, from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries to the majority going to low-income countries," said Dr Tedros.

Some countries have begun to use or start weighing the need for booster doses.

Germany said on Monday it will start to offer booster shots to vulnerable people next month. The United Arab Emirates will also start providing booster shots to all fully vaccinated people considered at high risk, three months after their second vaccine dose, and six months for others.

The US has signed a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech to buy 200 million more doses of their shots to help with paediatric vaccination as well as possible boosters, with health regulators still assessing the need for a booster.

Singapore's Ministry of Health has said the elderly and immunocompromised persons will be first in line to get booster shots if they are needed, with signs the efficacy of the vaccines could be "waning a bit faster" for the elderly.

Dr Katherine O'Brien, WHO's director of immunisation vaccines and biologicals, said there was still no convincing picture whether booster doses were actually necessary. "We don't have a full set of evidence around whether this is needed or not," she said. "We need instead to focus on those who are most vulnerable, most at risk of severe disease and death, to get their first and second doses."

REUTERS