The World Health Organisation (WHO) has yesterday warned that a blanket booster programme for covid-19 may likely prolong the pandemic and increase equity. The WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghabreyesus, gave this warning at the Geneva Headquarters of WHO yesterday while giving a brief for the end of the year. Ghabreyesus said, “No country can boost its way out of the pandemic.
He added, “And boosters cannot be seen as a ticket to go ahead with planned celebrations, without the need for other precautions,”
The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Expert on Immunisation (SAGE) has in the interim issued some guidelines saying, mass programmes for countries that can afford it will worsen vaccine imbalance.
It was revealed that currently, about 20% of all the vaccines being administered currently are in form of boosters.
The WHO boss noted that “Blanket booster programmes are likely to prolong the pandemic, rather than ending it, by diverting supply to countries that already have high levels of vaccination coverage, giving the virus more opportunity to spread and mutate,”
He said that the world priority should be directed on the supporting countries to help them vaccinate at least 40% of their population and target 70% by the middle of next year, rather than giving more to the ones that had already had.
Ghabreyesus disclosed that currently all hospitalisation and deaths that are being recorded are more in the unvaccinated people not the un-boosted people.
He reminded the forum that the vaccine currently available is effective for both Delta and Omicron variants.
The WHO boss revealed that due to “distortion in global supply” only half of WHO194 member countries have been able to vaccinate 40% of its population, while other countries are busy issuing third or fourth boosters, like Israel.
He disclosed ‘Enough vaccines were issued globally in 2021”.
Ghabreyesus noted that “every country could have reached the target by September, if doses had been distributed equitably through global solidarity mechanism COVAX and its African Union counterpart, AVAT.
He said, “We’re encouraged that supply is improving,” he said, adding that “Today, COVAX shipped its 800 millionth vaccine dose.
Half of those doses have been shipped in the past three months.”
He, therefore, enjoined the manufacturers of the vaccine to prioritise countries lagging behind especially through the COVAX and AVAT.
While WHO is claiming there was enough supply of vaccine the year 2021, the index is proving otherwise, alleging that coronavirus has killed about 3.5 million people and still killing about 50,000 every week globally.
“As we approach a new year, we must all learn the painful lessons this year taught us. 2022 must be the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it must also be the beginning of something else – a new era of solidarity.” The WHO boss said.
Meanwhile, he recommended new guidelines for the Health workers to use a respirator or medical mask, in addition to other personal protective equipment (PPE) that has been in use, when entering the room of a patient with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
Respirators, which include masks known as N95, FFP2 and others, should especially be worn in settings with poor ventilation.
He laments “It’s frankly difficult to understand how a year since the first vaccines were administered, three in four health workers in Africa remain unvaccinated,”. (NAN)
