World Health Organization (WHO) has appealed to wealthy countries with an abundant stock of COVID-19 vaccines to delay the administration of booster shots till the end of the year.
Addressing a press conference, Director General WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned rich states for not doing enough to ensure vaccination of ‘at risk’ population around the world that hasn’t received its first dose of Coronavirus vaccine.
DG WHO said that only 15% of the 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines pledged by wealthy nations under the COVAX program have been distributed to low- and middle-income countries so far.
On the other hand, 80% of the 5 billion doses of Coronavirus vaccines administered across the world so far went to high- and upper-middle-income countries.
Therefore, rich countries are requested to postpone the administration of booster doses for the rest of the year in order to increase vaccination rates in countries where only 1% or 2% of the population has been vaccinated.
In case vaccination rates are not raised quickly enough, not only could the Delta variant become more virulent but more potent strains could emerge from these countries.
He added that information available with the WHO does not indicate that booster doses are required for healthy vaccinated people as the approved COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at offering protection against severe infection and hospitalization.
Third doses may only be administered to fully vaccinated immunocompromised people whose immunity diminishes over time. However, widespread booster dose programs for healthy people must be halted by the end of 2021.
Last month, the DG WHO had asked the rich countries to postpone booster shots for two months.
Despite WHO’s appeal, UK, Denmark, France, Greece, Germany, and Spain launched booster shots programs for fully vaccinated healthy people. Israel has been offering third doses to its population for months while the US recently announced booster jabs for its entire population.
Note that research also supports WHO’s recommendation. A study published in the Science Journal last month revealed that stockpiling COVID-19 doses in rich countries could lead to the emergence of new variants of viral infection in countries with low vaccination rates.