Booster doses of index virus-based vaccines nonetheless efficient in opposition to all COVID-19 variants: WHO

The World Well being Organisation mentioned that booster doses of index virus-based vaccines supply safety in opposition to all SARS-CoV-2 variants, together with up to date Omicron descendent lineages. Picture for representational objective solely.
| Picture Credit score: RAMAKRISHNA G.

World Well being Organisation’s Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC) has mentioned that booster doses of index virus-based vaccines proceed to confer excessive ranges of safety in opposition to extreme illness and dying brought on by all SARS-CoV-2 variants, together with up to date Omicron descendent lineages.

The latest assertion comes at a time when India is witnessing a surge in new COVID-19 instances and is seeing a six-month excessive with over 10,000 day by day new instances coming in for the previous week.

WHO mentioned that a number of vaccine producers have developed COVID-19 vaccines with an up to date antigenic composition; this contains a number of bivalent mRNA-based vaccines containing earlier Omicron descendent lineages, along with the index virus (i.e., index virus + BA.1 or BA.4/5), which have been authorised for emergency use by regulatory authorities.

India is now ramping up its vaccine manufacturing following a fast surge in instances brought on by the XBB.1.16 pressure, a sub-variant of Omicron.

Serum Institute of India (SII) has restarted the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, its chief govt Adar Poonawalla mentioned just lately. Bharat Biotech, which makes India’s domestically produced Covaxin, mentioned it is going to look forward to demand to rise earlier than resuming manufacturing. It was the second-most administered vaccine within the nation and the corporate halted manufacturing of Covaxin in early 2022 as a consequence of a scarcity of demand.

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In the meantime, the WHO in its latest assembly reviewed the proof on the efficiency of up to date COVID-19 vaccines that incorporate descendent lineages of Omicron as a booster dose and in addition regarded on the timelines for COVID-19 vaccine composition suggestions in 2023.

Based mostly on the overview of the information, TAG-CO-VAC concluded that booster doses of index virus-based vaccines proceed to confer excessive ranges of safety in opposition to extreme illness and dying brought on by all SARS-CoV-2 variants, together with up to date Omicron descendent lineages.

“Safety from extreme illness and symptomatic an infection induced by index virus-based vaccines and BA.1- or BA.4/5-containing bivalent mRNA vaccines declines over time.

“Nevertheless, safety from extreme illness is maintained longer than safety from symptomatic an infection. As in comparison with index virus-based vaccines, booster doses of BA.1- or BA.4/5-containing bivalent mRNA vaccines could modestly enhance vaccine effectiveness in opposition to symptomatic illness, whereas the small variety of research assessing extreme outcomes present comparable estimates of vaccine effectiveness,’’ mentioned TAG-CO-VAC in its assertion.

It added that each BA.1- and BA.4/5-containing bivalent mRNA vaccines improve the magnitude and elicit larger breadth of cross-reactive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants when used as a booster dose, as in comparison with the index virus-based vaccines.