- The new vaccination guide against Covid-19 is based on the most recent scientific evidence and on the consequences caused by the Omicron Variant.
- Within the changes, the existence of three groups of priority use to receive the biological is now established: high, medium and low.
- The WHO recommends that countries that still do not apply the BA.5 mRNA bivalent vaccine include it in their schedules.
The pandemic remains on the decline in much of the world although it has not yet completely disappeared. In fact, the SARS-CoV-2 virus could become endemic like HIV and never go away. With this in mind, the World Health Organization (WHO) presented the new vaccination guide against Covid-19 based on the most recent findings.
In this case, the new indications are based on the data presented during the last meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) held from March 20 to 23. For their part, the modifications were generated by the impact caused by the Omicron variant and the high level of immunity of the world population.
Recommendations of the new vaccination guide against Covid-19
Within what remains is the cost-effectiveness of vaccination against COVID-19 for those at lower risk, that is, healthy children and adolescents, compared to other health interventions. The new Covid-19 vaccination guide also includes revised recommendations on additional booster doses.
As part of the changes, the existence of three groups of priority use to receive the biological is now established: high, medium and low. The classification is based primarily on the risk of developing a severe condition and dying, and also considers vaccine performance, cost-effectiveness, programmatic factors, and community acceptance.
New risk groups
The high priority group includes older adults; younger adults with significant comorbidities (diabetes and heart disease); people with immunocompromised conditions (people living with HIV and transplant recipients), plus children older than 6 months; pregnant people and frontline health workers.
For the high priority group, SAGE recommends an additional booster 6 or 12 months after the last dose, with the time period depending on factors such as age and immunocompromised conditions.
All COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are time-limited and apply only to the current epidemiological scenario, so additional booster recommendations should not be considered continuous annual immunization boosters. The objective is to serve countries that plan in the short and medium term.
The medium priority group includes healthy adults, generally under 50-60 years of age, without comorbidities, as well as children and adolescents with comorbidities. The SAGE recommends first booster doses for the medium priority group. Although additional boosters are safe for this group, they are not routinely recommended, given the comparatively low returns to public health.
The low priority group includes healthy children and adolescents from 6 months to 17 years. Primary and booster doses are safe and effective in children and adolescents. However, given the low disease burden, SAGE urges countries considering vaccinating this age group to base their decisions on contextual factors, such as disease burden, cost-effectiveness and other health or programmatic priorities, and costs. of opportunity.
Although low overall, the burden of severe COVID-19 in infants younger than 6 months remains higher than in children 6 months to 5 years. Vaccinating pregnant people, even with an additional dose if more than 6 months have passed since the last dose, protects them and the fetus while helping to reduce the chance of hospitalization of babies.
WHO recommends bivalent vaccine
Countries that already have a policy for additional boosters should assess the evolving need based on national disease burden, cost-effectiveness, and opportunity costs.
Apart from the roadmap, SAGE also updated its recommendations on bivalent COVID-19 vaccines and now recommends that countries consider the use of the bivalent BA.5 mRNA vaccine for the primary series.
Also read:
Contraindications of drugs against Covid-19 approved by the SSa
Here you can download all recent PAHO medical guides
These are all the keys to avoid a serious picture of Covid-19