Find the latest breaking news and information on the top stories, business, entertainment, politics, and more For in-depth coverage, interactive guides.
Search This Blog
WHO lists dangers of ‘blanket’ booster programs
The World Health Organization has warned countries against “blanket” booster programs, saying that they exacerbate vaccine inequities and might even make the pandemic longer.
According to the WHO’s advisory group on immunization (SAGE) report, published on Wednesday, the focus “must remain on decreasing death and severe disease” as well as on protecting the healthcare systems. SAGE expressed concern that “broad-based administration of booster doses risks exacerbating vaccine access” by diverting supply from under-vaccinated countries to ones with an already high percentage of vaccinated people.
WHO’s general director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking at a press conference later on Wednesday, further clarified that with 20% of all vaccine doses given now as boosters and additional doses, “blanket booster programs are likely to prolong the pandemic rather than ending it.” Diversion of vaccine supply to the countries with high levels of immunity gives the virus “more opportunity to spread and mutate,” he added.
Ghebreyesus also noted that vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths affect unvaccinated people rather than the unboosted, which means that the focus of the countries should be on reaching the target of vaccinating 40% of their population by the end of this year and 70% by the middle of next year.
According to SAGE’s report, at least 126 countries have already issued guidance on booster or additional vaccination and more than 120 have started boosting their populations.
“The majority of these countries are classified as high-income, or upper middle-income. No low-income country has yet introduced a booster vaccination programme,” the report said.
Ghebreyesus’ comments came as the UK has been regularly reporting new records in what Ghebreyesus has called a “blanket booster program.” On Tuesday, 968,665 booster and third doses were administered in the country, with around 53.6% of all adults now boosted.
Authorities removed the University of Hong Kong’s ‘Pillar of Shame’ statue late on Wednesday, dismantling one of the few such sites left in China that commemorate an iconic protest, as Beijing extends its influence in the region. The eight-meter-tall monument at the city-state’s oldest university had depicted a pile of twisted bodies and was the site of multiple vigils in memory of the victims of the infamous crackdown over 30 years ago in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The university had agreed to remove the statue earlier this year “based on the latest risk assessment and legal advice,” adding that officials are “very concerned about the potential safety issues resulting from the fragile statue.” Read more Why the West cannot leave Hong Kong alone “The PillarOfShame is removed, while memory lives. We must remember what happened on June 4th, 1989. TiananmenMassacre,” Nathan Law, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist who fled the region last year, wrote on Twitter. The statue’s re...
If legitimate, the new species, dubbed Homo longi, would be the most closely related known hominid to modern humans, filling in gaps between humanity and its Neanderthal ancestors as the search into mankind’s origins continues. Discovered in the Chinese city of Harbin, the skull retains some primitive features found in our distant ancestors, including a low brow and braincase plus a broad nose. However, it also shows some signs of more refined hominid characteristics, like flatter and more delicate cheekbones. The creature’s apparent mixture of more modern human traits and more Neanderthal-like characteristics has paleoanthropologists excited as it represents a potential step forward in the quest to find humanity’s less-distant predecessors, possibly representing an inflection point at which mankind veered off from its Neanderthal ancestors. Anterior and lateral views of the 'Harbin skull,' dubbed the 'Dragon Man,' which exhibits a mix of primitive and modern feature...
Comments
Post a Comment