Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that to overcome the pandemic it is not enough to administer booster doses against COVID-19, in fact, vaccination programs could prolong the health emergency.
“These indiscriminate booster programs could even prolong the pandemic rather than end it, by diverting available doses to countries with high vaccination rates, thus giving the virus more possibilities to spread and mutate,” said the doctor.
According to the WHO’s committee of experts on immunization policies (SAGE), at least 126 countries have already given instructions to inject a booster dose, and 120 of them have already started campaigns in this regard.
Without reinforcements, poor countries fight for the first doses
The specialist recalled that it is not about reinforcing those already immunized, but about vaccinating the entire population, and it is that the countries that are opting for reinforcements are rich or middle-income.
“No poor country has yet developed a reinforcement program,” SAGE said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Immunization efforts must continue to focus on reducing deaths and the most serious cases and protecting the health system,” SAGE said in its conclusions.
With information from AFP