Vaccines are effective enough in preventing severe forms of Covid-19 so that the general public no longer needs to receive a third dose, according to a report in The Lancet published on Monday. Some countries have begun offering additional doses due to fears about the much more contagious Delta variant, prompting the World Health Organization to call for a third-dose moratorium amid concerns about vaccine supply to poorer countries, where millions of people have not yet received even the first dose. The report of the scientists, including from the WHO, concluded that, even with the threat of the Delta variant, “booster doses for the general population are not adequate at this stage of the pandemic”.
The authors, who analyzed observational studies and clinical trials, found that vaccines remain extremely effective against severe symptoms of Covid-19 in all major virus variants, including Delta, although they have had less success in preventing asymptomatic form. “Taken together, the currently available studies do not provide credible evidence of any substantial decrease in protection against severe disease, which is the main goal of vaccination,” said lead author Ana-Maria Henao-Restrepo, WHO. She said vaccine doses should be given priority to those still waiting for the first injection. “If vaccines are given where they can do the most good, it could speed up the end of the pandemic by inhibiting the subsequent evolution of the variants,” she added.
Countries such as France have already begun distributing the third dose to the elderly and people with compromised immune systems, while Israel has gone further, offering children aged at least 12 years the third dose five months after full vaccination. The Lancet study concluded that the current variants have not developed enough to avoid the immune response to the vaccines currently in use.
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