Dublin: Getting an initial course of COVID-19 vaccines to vulnerable groups around the world should be a top priority before giving booster shots to vulnerable groups, World Health Organization (WHO) emergency director mike ryan said on Tuesday.
A major study on Tuesday found that two doses of Pfizer-BioNtech’s COVID-19 vaccine gave 70% protection against hospitalizations in South Africa in recent weeks, suggesting weak efficacy against new . omicron Type.
Ryan said he expected current vaccines to provide significant protection against hospitalization and death, but that the data coming in was very preliminary and the WHO did not yet have enough to make a full determination. .
“People always ask whether we should go for the primary vaccination or a booster, the reality is we should be doing both,” Ryan told an online event.
“We should focus on people who are vaccinated as early as possible and then be able to give booster doses to those in vulnerable groups.”
Ryan said Omicron would most likely replace delta As time goes on, governments need to refocus on basic protective measures like wearing masks and making sure their hospitals are ready.
Even if Omicron may be a minor illness in an individual patient, there is no doubt that the rapidly increasing force of infection will drive more hospitalizations in the coming weeks by the sheer weight of the numbers, he said.
“Every single health system needs to be ready,” Ryan said. “We’re likely to see a huge omicron wave. We need to protect the health system, we need to protect the people we love. It’s not rocket science, everyone knows how to do it.” To do.”
A major study on Tuesday found that two doses of Pfizer-BioNtech’s COVID-19 vaccine gave 70% protection against hospitalizations in South Africa in recent weeks, suggesting weak efficacy against new . omicron Type.
Ryan said he expected current vaccines to provide significant protection against hospitalization and death, but that the data coming in was very preliminary and the WHO did not yet have enough to make a full determination. .
“People always ask whether we should go for the primary vaccination or a booster, the reality is we should be doing both,” Ryan told an online event.
“We should focus on people who are vaccinated as early as possible and then be able to give booster doses to those in vulnerable groups.”
Ryan said Omicron would most likely replace delta As time goes on, governments need to refocus on basic protective measures like wearing masks and making sure their hospitals are ready.
Even if Omicron may be a minor illness in an individual patient, there is no doubt that the rapidly increasing force of infection will drive more hospitalizations in the coming weeks by the sheer weight of the numbers, he said.
“Every single health system needs to be ready,” Ryan said. “We’re likely to see a huge omicron wave. We need to protect the health system, we need to protect the people we love. It’s not rocket science, everyone knows how to do it.” To do.”
,