Booster jabs were rolled out this week in the UK as the Government plans to stop a winter wave of Covid-19. Over 50s and vulnerable people are set to receive the third dose, six months after their second dose.
Along with the UK, Israel will administer a third dose to everyone over the age of 12. France, Germany and the USA also plan to implement a booster jab program.
UK Health Minister Sajid Javid said “Protection offered by Covid-19 vaccines reduces over time, particularly older people at greater risk. And so booster doses are an important way of keeping the virus under control for the long-term.”
However, the rate of decrease in immunity is unclear as The Lancet, a medical journal by international scientists, reported that “current evidence does not, therefore, appear to show a need for boosting in the general population.”
Prof. Dame Sarah Gilbert, co-founder of Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine explained that actually the first dose has the most impact and provides good protection which is later consolidated by the second dose. The third dose will possibly slightly improve immunity.
Currently, 42 percent of the world population have received at least one dose. However, only 1.9 percent are people in low income countries.
Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus said that “High income countries have promised to donate more than a billion doses. But less than 15 percent of those doses have been materialised.”
The United Kingdom has agreed to donate 100 million doses, however most will not be sent until next year. British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, emphasised that his priority is to give maximum protection to the UK population, therefore ruled out sending more Covid-19 vaccines to the developing world until the booster program has been concluded.
Airfinity, a science analytics company, believes there will be more than a billion available stock of Western Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2021, even after the booster jabs.
WHO has made it clear that they want the booster roll out paused. Dr. Tedros earlier said “None of us are safe until all of us are safe”. However, the reality is that the richest countries refuse to choose between their populations and the rest of the world, and will proceed to offer a third dose whilst vaccination rates remain low in developing countries.