WHO backs third jab for those with weaker immune systems

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Oct 12, 2021 06:00 am

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation's (WHO) vaccine advisers yesterday recommended people with weaker immune systems should be offered an additional dose of all authorised Covid-19 vaccines.

The UN health agency's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (Sage) also said over-60s who have been fully immunised with China's Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccine should be offered an additional third Covid-19 vaccine dose.

The experts stressed they were not recommending an additional so-called booster dose for the population at large.

Several vaccines have been given WHO approval for emergency use during the pandemic: Pfizer-BioNTech, Janssen, Moderna, Sinopharm, Sinovac and AstraZeneca.

Sage added that when implementing this recommendation, countries should initially aim at maximising two-dose coverage in that population, and thereafter administer the third dose, starting in the oldest age groups. - AFP