Covid-19: "No urgent need" for an additional dose of vaccine, according to the European disease agency

There is currently "

no urgent need

" to administer an additional dose of vaccine to boost immunization against Covid-19 in the general population, the European disease agency said on Wednesday.

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In a technical note published Wednesday evening, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), however, recommends these additional doses or "

booster

" for people with weakened immune systems, in line with the position of the WHO.

Vaccinate those "who have not finished"

"

In the current state of knowledge, there is no urgent need to administer

"

booster

"

doses

to fully vaccinated people in the general population,

" said ECDC in a statement.

"

The priority must be to vaccinate eligible people who have not yet completed their vaccination

", continues the center.

Read alsoThird dose of vaccine against Covid-19: should serological tests be required to check the level of antibodies?

On the other hand, "

additional doses should already be considered for people with severely weakened immune systems as part of their initial vaccination, if they do not reach a sufficient level of protection

", adds the European agency based in Stockholm, which covers around thirty countries including the 27 members of the EU.

The World Health Organization (WHO) denounced on August 18 the rush of rich countries for a 3rd dose of vaccine against Covid, stressing that scientific data had not demonstrated their need at this stage.

Injecting a third dose now amounts to "

distributing additional life jackets to people who already have one, while we leave other people to drown without the slightest life jacket

," said the emergency director of the 'WHO, Mike Ryan.

All vaccines are very protective

Faced with signs of weakening vaccines against the Delta variant, several countries have decided or considered booster doses, most often for frail people but sometimes for the entire 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 18 is not yet fully vaccinated,

" however the ECDC.