WHO says Covid-19 boosters needed, reversing previous position
- WHO advice comes as numerous scientific studies show that boosters help restore waning immunity
- WHO said it is continuing to monitor the global spread of Omicron, including a ‘stealth’ version known as BA.2
An expert group convened by the World Health Organization said it “strongly supports urgent and broad access” to booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine amid the global spread of Omicron, capping a reversal of the UN agency’s repeated insistence last year that boosters weren’t necessary for healthy people and contributed to vaccine inequity.
In a statement on Tuesday, WHO said its expert group concluded that immunisation with authorised Covid-19 vaccines provide high levels of protection against severe disease and death amid the continuing spread of the hugely contagious omicron variant.
WHO eased back on its earlier position in January by saying boosters were recommended once countries had adequate supplies and after protecting their most vulnerable.
It said vaccination, including the use of boosters, was especially important for people at risk of severe disease.
Last year, WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for a moratorium on booster doses while dozens of countries embarked on administering the doses, saying rich countries should immediately donate those vaccines to poor countries instead. WHO scientists said at the time they would continue to evaluate incoming data.
