Who should get a booster dose of the COVID vaccine? PAHO sets priorities

Only two groups of people are currently recommended to receive a booster dose of the vaccine against COVID-19said the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Americas office of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Based on the evidence collected by the SAGE group of experts, a committee that independently advises WHO, PAHO does not advise giving an additional dose in a generalized way.

Immunosuppressed people should receive it, regardless of the vaccine they have been given. This includes cancer patients, HIV positive people, those taking certain medications such as corticosteroids, and transplant recipients.

A booster dose should also be given to people over 60 who received an inactivated virus vaccine, such as Chinese Sinovac or Sinopharm.

“These people need an additional dose to protect themselves from a serious illness and the risk of dying from COVID-19, and their vaccination cannot be considered complete until they have received their third injection,” said Jarbas Barbosa, deputy director of the OPS.

“There is not yet enough evidence to recommend booster vaccines for other groups that are fully immunized, especially when vaccine availability is limited and many in our region have not yet received their first injection,” he added.

Barbosa asked to prioritize the doses of the anti-COVID vaccine in Latin America and the Caribbean, where immunization is advancing but there are lags in several countries and access continues to be uneven.

“When the availability of vaccines is low, it is better to protect the most vulnerable first,” he recalled.

This means not reaching all levels of the population before a high percentage of vulnerable groups are fully immunized.

“PAHO urges countries to prioritize the elderly, frontline workers, and people with pre-existing conditions, to protect them, but also to prevent health systems from being overloaded with serious cases,” Barbosa said.

Once the most vulnerable are protected, the highest possible percentage of the adult population should be immunized and “only afterwards” should the youngest be considered vaccinated, according to PAHO.

Barbosa recalled that there is no evidence at the moment that vaccinating children and adolescents should be a prerequisite to reopen schools.

“This phased approach lays the best foundation for countries to reduce the circulation of the virus,” he said.

So far, 46% of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to PAHO.

However, 19 countries have vaccination coverage of less than 40%. Among them, for example, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Guatemala, are below 20%.