WHO recommends COVID-19 boosters for high-risk adults 6-12 months after last dose

The World Health Organization has made recommendations for the vaccination of COVID-19 for the new pandemic phase, which indicates that healthy children and adolescents do not need to be shot, but older and high-risk groups should get a booster between six and 12 months. after the last vaccination.

The UN agency said it aims to focus efforts on vaccinations that face the greatest threat of illness and death from COVID-19, considering the high level of population immunity worldwide due to widespread infection and vaccination.

“The revised roadmap reaffirms the importance of vaccination that remains at risk of severe disease,” said Hanna Nohynek, chair of the WHO’s Strategic Expert Group on immunization, which made the recommendation.

Health agencies define high-risk populations as the elderly, as well as young people with significant risk factors. For this group, the agency recommends an additional vaccine six or 12 months after the most recent dose, based on factors such as age and immunocompromising conditions.

The WHO does not recommend additional boosters beyond the third dose for the medium priority group, which is defined as healthy adults aged 50 to 60 years and children and adolescents with comorbidities, due to the “relatively low public health return” – but says additional boosters safe for this group.

Meanwhile, it said healthy children and adolescents are a “low priority” for vaccination against COVID-19, and urged countries to consider factors such as disease burden before recommending vaccination of this group. It says the COVID-19 vaccine and booster are safe for all ages, but the recommendation takes into account other factors such as cost-effectiveness.

The end of the ‘sawengen’ pandemic

The WHO said in September last year that the end of the pandemic was “in sight”. In a briefing on Tuesday, the agency said the latest advice reflects the current picture of the disease and the level of global immunity, but should not be seen as a long-term guide to whether annual boosters are needed.

The committee also called for urgent efforts to make up for missed routine vaccinations during the pandemic and warned that vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles.

The WHO recommendations come as countries take different approaches. Some high-income countries like the UK and Canada have offered those at risk of COVID-19 boosters this spring.

Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recently urged high-risk people to get another COVID-19 booster shot — six months or more after the last dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or SARS-CoV-2 infection, whichever is longer — for people with a higher risk of disease.

That includes:

• Adult residents in long-term care homes and other congregate living spaces for the elderly or those with complex medical care needs.
• Adults 18 and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised, due to medical treatment or an underlying health condition.
• Adults 65 to 79, especially if they have no previous history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and anyone over 80 years old.

Bivalent, Omicron-containing, mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine is the “preferred” option for booster shots, NACI wrote.

NACI does not recommend an additional spring booster for people in the general population who have received all the previously recommended doses, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam wrote in a statement on social media on March 3.