ATAs recall campaigns are in full swing, especially in western countries, the World Health Organization has sounded the alarm, warning governments that booster doses of current vaccines alone will not be enough to fight the pandemic of Covid-19. WHO experts called for vaccines that better prevent transmission on Tuesday. “A vaccination strategy based on repeated boosters” of the first vaccines “is unlikely to be appropriate or viable,” they say in a statement.Also, these specialists consider “that vaccines against Covid-19 having a high impact in terms of transmission and prevention of infection, in addition to preventing serious forms of disease and death, are necessary and must be developed “.
“While waiting for such vaccines to become available, and as the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, it may be necessary to update the composition of current anti-Covid vaccines, in order to ensure that[ils] continue to provide WHO-recommended levels of protection against infection and disease “caused by variants, including Omicron, the expert panel believes.
WHO still concerned about Omicron
A little more than six weeks after its identification in South Africa, data from several countries converge on two points: Omicron – which falls under the WHO category of variants of concern – is transmitted much faster than the previously dominant variant, Delta, and appears to cause less severe forms of the disease overall.
Important point: it is not known if this apparently less seriousness comes from the intrinsic characteristics of the variant, or if it is related to the fact that it strikes populations already partially immunized, by the vaccine or a previous infection.
Still, Omicron is progressing dramatically in many countries and cases are doubling every two or three days, unprecedented with the previous variants. Omicron’s mutations appear to allow it to reduce antibody immunity against the virus. Consequence: it can probably contaminate a large number of vaccinees and re-infect people previously infected with the virus.
