combating the pandemic with booster doses is not a viable strategy, says WHO

The criticism is scathing. Fighting the Covid-19 pandemic with booster doses of current vaccines is not a viable strategy, warned Tuesday, January 11, experts from the World Health Organization, also calling for vaccines that better prevent transmission. “A vaccination strategy based on repeated boosters” the first vaccines “unlikely to be appropriate or viable”, indicates in a press release this group of experts in charge of supervising vaccines against the coronavirus.

Also, these specialists consider “that vaccines against Covid-19 with a high impact in terms of transmission and prevention of infection, in addition to preventing severe forms of disease and death, are necessary and must be developed”. “While waiting for such vaccines to become available, and as the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, it may be necessary to update the composition of current anti-Covid vaccines, in order to ensure that (they) continue to provide the WHO recommended levels of protection against infection and disease “ caused by variants, including Omicron, the expert panel believes.

A little more than six weeks after its identification in South Africa, data from several countries converge on two points: Omicron – which falls under the WHO category of variants of concern – is transmitted much faster than the previously dominant variant, Delta, and appears to cause less severe forms of the disease overall.

Important point: it is not known if this apparently less seriousness comes from the intrinsic characteristics of the variant, or if it is related to the fact that it strikes populations already partially immunized, by the vaccine or a previous infection. Still, Omicron is progressing dramatically in many countries and cases are doubling every two or three days, unheard of with previous variants. Omicron’s mutations appear to allow it to reduce antibody immunity against the virus. Consequence: it can probably contaminate a large number of vaccinees, and re-infect people previously infected with the virus.