COVID-19 Boosters In The Fall?

• Coronavirus vaccine booster shots will likely be needed in the fall, according to experts, who are urging governments to organize them now. It comes as the Delta variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India, continues to spread rapidly across the world. 
• Some countries, like the U.S. and U.K., have already signaled that they could roll out COVID-19 booster shots within a year. Now, pressure is building on governments to mobilize booster shot programs — no easy task given the ongoing uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, vaccines and variants. 
• However, concrete plans for Covid-19 booster shots are lacking. Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, last month said it was, “just something we’re gonna have to figure out as we go.” 
• There are currently question marks over whether we actually need a third dose of any COVID-19 vaccine given that we don’t know how long immunity currently lasts. There are also unknowns regarding whether people should get a booster shot that’s the same as the vaccines they originally had. And also whether the shots need to be tweaked to deal with variants, much like the flu vaccine, or whether they can remain as they are. 
• Booster shots could potentially be rolled out before countries have even completed their initial vaccination programs. To date, almost 60% of the adult population in the U.K. is fully vaccinated, while just over 55% of adults in the U.S. are. 
• Any decision to roll out programmes to deliver booster shot to populations in developed economies in the fall, is likely to exacerbate challenges accessing sufficient doses of the vaccine by developing countries such as Jamaica and others in the region.

(Source: CNCB News & NCBCM Research)