HEAD (PA) – The head of the World Health Organization said Monday that the advent of new COVID-19 has raised questions about whether or not existing vaccines work, calling it “new” that vaccines developed so far may be less effective against the variant first detected in South Africa.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a media briefing that South Africa’s decision to suspend the vaccination campaign using the AstraZeneca vaccine on Sunday it is “a reminder that we must do everything we can to reduce the circulation of the virus with proven public health measures.”
He said it is becoming increasingly clear that vaccine manufacturers will need to improve their existing vaccines to address the ongoing genetic evolution of coronavirus, saying booster vaccines would most likely be needed, especially as new variants are needed. of the virus are now spreading globally and appear to be becoming the predominant strains.
Tedros added that the WHO expected to make a decision “in the next few days” whether to recommend an emergency use list for the AstraZeneca vaccine. This designation would allow millions of doses to be transported to poor countries as part of a sustained UN effort to distribute COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, known as COVAX.
Last week, Tedros said more than three-quarters of COVID-19 vaccines were given in just 10 countries and that immunization in nearly 130 countries had not yet begun. Despite the WHO goal of starting COVID-19 vaccination in poor countries at the same time as rich countries, COVAX did not administer any dose of vaccine anywhere.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief WHO scientist, said people should not conclude from the South African decision that the AstraZeneca vaccine does not work. She said all the evidence available so far shows that vaccines developed so far reduce deaths, hospitalizations and severe illness.
Other COVID-19 vaccines developed by Novavax, Pfizer and BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson also appear to be less effective against the strain first identified in South Africa, although they can prevent severe disease.
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