WHO's advisory panel outlines recommendations for boosters

Speaking in a briefing, SAGE chair Alejandro Cravioto said emerging data showed that vaccines' efficacy against COVID-19 wanes, with a significant decline seen in older people in particular. Inactivated vaccines which take the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inactivate or kill it using chemicals, heat or radiation, are made by Chinese manufacturers Sinovac Biotech, state-owned Sinopharm and India's Bharat Biotech.


Reuters | Geneva | Updated: 09-12-2021 15:49 IST | Created: 09-12-2021 15:35 IST
WHO's advisory panel outlines recommendations for boosters
Representative Image Image Credit: ANI
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The World Health Organization's (WHO) vaccine advisory panel recommends that people who are immunocompromised or received an inactivated vaccine should receive a booster dose of a COVID-19 shot, the head of the panel said on Thursday.

The recommendation comes after the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunisation held a meeting on Tuesday to evaluate the need for COVID-19 boosters. Speaking in a briefing, SAGE chair Alejandro Cravioto said emerging data showed that vaccines' efficacy against COVID-19 wanes, with a significant decline seen in older people in particular.

Inactivated vaccines which take the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inactivate or kill it using chemicals, heat or radiation, are made by Chinese manufacturers Sinovac Biotech, state-owned Sinopharm and India's Bharat Biotech. A single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is still effective, but data from the company's clinical trials using two doses clearly show the benefit of having further vaccination, Cravioto said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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