Extending the booster dose to the entire population is not necessary “in the current state of knowledge”, estimates the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, in line with the position of the WHO.
- The United States and Israel have already announced that they are opening the third dose to its entire population.
- The ECDC points to the lack of scientific data to support the need to administer a third dose of vaccine to the general population.
- The European agency is in favor of a booster dose for people with weakened immune systems.
This Wednesday marked the start of the campaign to inject the third doses of vaccine in France. This concerns immunocompromised people, those over 65 and those who have received a dose of the Janssen vaccine. Already, voices are being raised to expand access to this booster dose to the entire population to compensate for a potential decrease in the protective efficacy of the vaccine against infections. While the United States and Israel have already announced that they are following this path, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday that there is, “in the current state of knowledge”, “no urgent need” to administer an additional dose of vaccine in the general population.
Distribute life jackets to people who already have one
The ECDC stressed in a technical note published on Wednesday evening the importance of continuing the vaccination campaign in populations that have not yet been vaccinated. “The priority should be to vaccinate eligible people who have not yet completed their vaccination”, she indicated. In addition, she specifies that she is in favor of the injection of a booster dose for people with weakened immune systems.
The European agency is in line with the WHO, which has indicated that it does not agree with countries that start a booster dose campaign for its entire population. Injecting a 3rd dose now amounts to “distributing extra life jackets to people who already have one, while we let other people drown without any life jackets”, had notably affirmed the director of emergencies of the WHO, Mike Ryan.
There is no scientific data supporting it.
Both authorities rely on the lack of scientific data to support the need to administer a third dose of vaccine to the general population. “All vaccines authorized in the EU are currently highly protective against hospitalization and severe forms linked to Covid-19, while one in three adults over the age of 18 are not yet fully vaccinated”, wrote the European disease agency.
In France, the third dose campaign, launched on Monday and whose first injections started on Wednesday, concerns 6 million people. This Wednesday, already 200,000 people have made an appointment. This third injection must imperatively be done with a messenger RNA vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna.
