Booster jabs not needed: Lancet study

A report published in The Lancet revealed that currently, there is no need to take booster shots against Covid-19 as vaccines are effective enough to prevent contracting severe Covid-19.

The report has come amid nations were offering booster shots as fear of delta variant Covid-19 was prevailing across the world.

“Vaccines are effective enough at preventing severe cases of Covid-19,” the report said. It added that the available vaccine supply will save far more lives if given to those who haven’t been inoculated at all.

“The vaccines that are currently available are safe, effective, and save lives. The limited supply of these vaccines will save the most lives if made available to people who are at appreciable risk of serious disease and have not yet received any vaccine. Even if some gain can ultimately be obtained from boosting, it will not outweigh the benefits of providing initial protection to the unvaccinated. If vaccines are deployed where they would do the most good, they could hasten the end of the pandemic by inhibiting further evolution of variants,” said the report.

The new report by scientists concluded that even with the threat of Delta, “booster doses for the general population are not appropriate at this stage in the pandemic”.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation had urged nations to impose moratorium on booster shots until the benefits of primary vaccination have been made available to more people around the world.

“The limited supply of these vaccines will save the most lives if made available to people who are at appreciable risk of serious disease and have not yet received any vaccine. Even if some gain can ultimately be obtained from boosting, it will not outweigh the benefits of providing initial protection to the unvaccinated,” said the report, co-authored by WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan, published in Lancet on Monday.