Who will get the booster shot in the U.S.?
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(CNN) -
Maria van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization (WHO) technical leader for covid-19, told CNN's John Berman on Tuesday that the WHO continues to recommend that people at higher risk of contracting covid they must be fully vaccinated before large populations in some countries receive a booster dose.
"I would be very interested to know more about the plans for this," van Kerkhove said when asked for his opinion on the fact that the United States supports booster vaccines for all Americans starting next month.
“What we are recommending is at a global level, I mean that it is a global pandemic and we have to think of global solutions.
Our recommendation is that all of the world's most vulnerable healthcare workers, and those most at risk, need to receive their first and second doses before large proportions of the population, or the entire population in some countries, receive that third dose. "
In addition, he said that science holds that vaccines are incredibly safe and effective in preventing serious illness and death.
And he added that until science says otherwise, the WHO recommendation will remain the same.
We'll need booster doses for everyone, says expert 1:15
WHO insists on "a global solution"
He explained that the objective is to make sure that “those who are most at risk, the older populations, people with underlying conditions (comorbidities) and, fundamentally, our health workers in all countries of the world, receive that first and second dose, before administering the boosters for those who do not necessarily need it right now ”.
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When asked if the WHO supports the majority of Americans receiving the booster dose now, van Kerkhove said this is a global problem that needs a global solution.
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“It is not just about one country.
We have a limited number of vaccines.
There is a limited amount of production.
We need to use those doses to be epidemiologically sound, morally sound, economically sound, scientifically sound.
And that really focuses on those who are most at risk, ”he said.
"This is a problem that has a solution," he said.
"So we need to use those vaccines in the most appropriate way possible around the world."
Dr. Fauci says everyone would need a booster shot 0:41
Meanwhile, he acknowledged that some populations may need a third dose.
In the United States, some immunosuppressed people are already eligible to receive a third dose of the mRNA vaccine.
“We need to see what that plan is.
There are possibilities and there are populations that may need that third dose, ”he said.
“So, we are not against that, of course we want people to be protected and receive full protection.
But what we do not agree on is giving a third dose to people who are already well protected. "
Covid-19 vaccines