COVID-19 vaccine boosters are not much needed, according to leading FDA and WHO scientists

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (Reuters) – No additional COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are needed for the general population, prominent scientists said, including two senior U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials and several of the World Health Organization (WHO), in an article published in a medical journal Monday.

Scientists said more evidence was needed to justify the drivers. This view is at odds with U.S. government plans to begin offering another round of shootings to many fully vaccinated Americans as early as next week, with the approval of health regulators.

As cases of COVID-19 caused by the Delta variant of the virus increase, the administration of President Joe Biden is concerned that infections among those who are already vaccinated are a sign that their protection is declining and that it has driven promoters such as in order to rebuild immunity.

The WHO has argued that vaccines are still needed for first doses worldwide.

“Any decision on the need for an increase or timing of reinforcement should be based on thorough analysis of adequately controlled clinical or epidemiological data, or both, that indicate a persistent and significant reduction in serious disease,” the scientists in the medical journal Lancet.

The risk-benefit assessment should take into account the number of serious cases of COVID-19 that are expected to prevent the increase and whether it is safe and effective against current variants, they said.

“Therefore, the current evidence does not seem to show the need to empower the general population, in which the effectiveness against serious diseases remains high,” the scientists wrote.

Some countries have begun COVID-19 reinforcement campaigns, including Israel, providing some of the data on which the Biden administration has defended the additional features.

Among the authors of the article were FDA’s Office of Vaccine Review and Review Director Marion Gruber, and Deputy Director Phil Krause, who plan to leave the agency in the coming months. Read more

They acknowledged that some people, such as those who are immunocompromised, could benefit from an additional dose.

Wider booster use may be needed in the future if there is a declining immunity to primary vaccination or if new variants are evolving so that vaccines no longer protect against the virus, they said.

Drivers could also be risky if introduced too soon or too often, the scientists wrote.

A panel of experts advising the FDA on vaccines plans to meet Sept. 17 to discuss additional doses of the Pfizer (PFE.N) / BioNTech shot, the first step in a broader booster deployment.

Among the authors of the article were leading WHO scientists, Soumya Swaminathan, Ana-Maria Henao-Restrepo and Mike Ryan.

“Current vaccine supplies could save more lives if used in previously unvaccinated populations,” the authors wrote.

Reports by Ahmed Aboulenein; Edited by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot

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