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The World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines so that countries worldwide can catch up with efforts to vaccinate their most vulnerable populations without further strains on the global supplies of vaccines.
WHO wants all countries to reach at least 10% of their populations vaccinated by the end of September, but many countries are not on track to reach this goal. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general at WHO, said he wants high-income countries to refrain from giving out third shots of vaccines to their populations until at least the end of September.
“Even while hundreds of millions of people are still waiting for their first dose, some rich countries are moving towards booster doses,” he said when speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
Why this matters: Israel began offering booster shots of vaccines to people aged over 60 on Sunday, and Germany is planning to offer third doses for vulnerable groups in September. Other countries are also considering it.
More than 4 billion doses have been administered globally, with more than 80% of those allocated to upper-middle- and high-income countries, even though they account for less than half the world’s population, Tedros said.
“We should not accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it, while the world’s most vulnerable people remain unprotected,” he said.
Incomplete evidence: Katherine O’Brien, director of the department of immunization, vaccines, and biologicals at WHO, said the evidence around the need for a booster shot is evolving and still incomplete.
“We don’t have a full set of evidence over whether this is needed or not,” she said.
In September, WHO will revisit its call for a moratorium to see if it needs to be extended.