A recently released report by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that the booster doses of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine are not required currently. Experts have stated that our first responsibility is to ensure complete vaccination of the vulnerable countries across the world, and the booster dose should be considered only once this is fulfilled.
Sharing more information, the Chief Scientist at the WHO, Soumya Swaminathan, said the latest statistics reveal that there is no need for booster doses at present and this requires further research. Meanwhile, the United States has announced a booster dose of the vaccine for all the citizens of the country, and this is expected to be administered from September 20, 2021.
Reports state that the government has taken this decision owing to the increasing Delta variant cases in mind. The senior adviser to the WHO, Bruce Elward, said that booster doses are available only in rich countries around the world and one must be concerned that the vaccine has not yet reached the right number of people at all the place globally. Stressing more on the responsibility, he said that unless all the vulnerable nations are vaccinated, the rich countries should not consider administering booster doses to their citizens.
Also Read: COVID-19 vaccines Pfizer, AstraZeneca likely to need booster doses
Globally, the nations are currently far from the goal of ensuring all the doses are made available to all the citizens. According to the WHO's data for high-income countries, an average of 50 doses per 100 people was available in May, and the number has doubled since then. Similar data for the low-income countries is much different whereby the average dose of the vaccine is 1.5 doses for every 100 people due to a shortage of supplies.
Moreover, health experts have confirmed the need for research to prove that taking a booster dose of the COVID vaccine will reduce the infection further.
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