WHO recommends high-risk COVID boosters for new phase of pandemic

A health worker prepares a dose of Pfizer COVID 19 coronavirus vaccine at a health center in Jakarta on February 1, 2023. PHOTO AFP The World Health Organization has tailored its COVID 19 vaccine recommendations for a new phase of the pandemic, suggesting that healthy children and adolescents may not need a shot, but older, high-risk groups should get a booster between 6 and 12 months after their last vaccine.

The UN agency said the aim was to focus efforts on vaccinating those facing the greatest threat of severe disease and death from COVID - 19, considering the high level of population immunity worldwide due to widespread infection and vaccination.

The health agency defined high-risk populations as older adults, as well as younger people with other significant risk factors. The agency recommends an additional shot of the vaccine either six or 12 months after the latest dose, based on factors such as age and immunocompromising conditions.

It said healthy children and adolescents were low priority for COVID 19 vaccination and urged countries to consider factors like disease burden before recommending vaccination of this group. The recommendations took into account other factors like cost-effectiveness, but it said the COVID 19 vaccines and boosters were safe for all ages.

The WHO said in September last year that the end of the epidemic was in sight, but it shouldn't be seen as long-term guidance over whether annual boosters would be needed.

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The recommendations come as countries take different approaches. Some high-income countries like the United Kingdom and Canada are already offering high-risk COVID boosters this spring, six months after their last dose.

Hanna Nohynek, chair of the WHO's Strategic Group of Experts on Immunization, said the revised roadmap re emphasizes the importance of vaccinating those still at risk of severe disease.

The committee called for urgent efforts to catch up. The rise in vaccine-preventable diseases like measles has been warned of a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases, including routine vaccinations missed during the pandemic.

It said that vaccines beyond the initial two shots and a booster were no longer routinely recommended for those at medium risk because benefits were marginal.