Who Needs More COVID-19 Shots?

Following its meeting of 20-23 March, 2023,  the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) revised its recommendations for prioritizing the use of COVID-19 vaccines, to reflect the impact of Omicron and high population-level immunity due to infection and vaccination. 

KEY TAKEAWAY OF THE LATEST RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Healthy children and teens may not need additional COVID-19 shots, though they may need to catch up on other routine vaccines like polio, measles, and the pneumococcal conjugate.

• The established public health benefits of traditional essential vaccines for children surpass the impact of additional vaccination of healthy children and adolescents for COVID-19.

• High risk population: COVID-19 booster vaccines should go to high risk people like:

  • Older people;
  • Immunocompromised people of all ages;
  • Younger adults with significant co-occurring diseases like diabetes, and heart disease;
  • Front-line health workers and
  • Pregnant people six or 12 months after their last booster dose.

• Medium risk population: Children and adolescents who have health risks, as well as healthy adults younger than 50-60 without co-occurring diseases are considered at medium risk for COVID-19 and are recommended to receive primary COVID-19 vaccines and first boosters, but not additional routine boosters.

• Low risk population: For healthy children and adolescents aged 6 months to 17 years who are considered at low risk for COVID-19, primary and booster doses are considered safe and effective, but countries are urged to consider vaccinating this age group only when the disease burden, cost effectiveness, and other health or programmatic priorities and opportunity costs support it.

• Countries that already have a policy in place for additional boosters should assess the evolving need based on national disease burden, cost effectiveness and opportunity costs. 

• Countries can consider using BA.5 bivalent mRNA vaccine for primary COVID-19 vaccination.  

Source:

WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE):  News release, March 28, 2023

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Published: March 31, 2023

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