COVID-19 Booster Issue" WHO estimates boosters may be needed yearly for the most vulnerable

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Thu, 2021-06-24 15:41 — mike kraft

EXCLUSIVE WHO estimates COVID-19 boosters needed yearly for most vulnerable The World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts that people most vulnerable to COVID-19, such as the elderly, will need to get an annual vaccine booster to be protected against variants, an internal document seen by Reuters shows. Francesco Guarascio Reuters

Under indicative base case 12 bln doses produced in 2022
General population to need booster every two years -WHO document
Global output ranges between 6 bln and 16 bln doses
In worst-case scenario annual boosters for all

BRUSSELS, June 24 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts that people most vulnerable to COVID-19, such as the elderly, will need to get an annual vaccine booster to be protected against variants, an internal document seen by Reuters shows.

The estimate is included in a report, which is to be discussed on Thursday at a board meeting of Gavi, a vaccine alliance that co-leads the WHO's COVID-19 vaccine programme COVAX. The forecast is subject to changes and is also paired with two other less likely scenarios.

Vaccine makers Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), with its German partner BioNTech (22UAy.DE), have been vocal in their view that the world will soon need booster shots to maintain high levels of immunity, but the evidence for this is still unclear.

The document shows that the WHO considers annual boosters for high-risk individuals as its "indicative" baseline scenario, and boosters every two years for the general population. ...

The document, which is dated June 8 and is still a "work in progress," also predicts under the base case that 12 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses will be produced globally next year.

That would be slightly higher than the forecast of 11 billion doses for this year cited by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), signalling that the U.N. agency does not expect a significant ramp-up of vaccine production in 2022.

The document predicts manufacturing problems, regulatory approval issues and "transition away from some technology platforms" as potential drags on supplies next year.

ALSO SEE: The Only Way We’ll Know When We Need COVID-19 Boosters --The Atlantic

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