Advertisement
Advertisement

Coronavirus

COVID-19 Vaccines May Need to be Updated for Continued Protection Against Emerging Variants Like Omicron: WHO

By IANS

12 January, 2022

TWC India

Representative Image (IANS)
Representative Image
(IANS)
Advertisement

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that current COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated to provide continued protection against emerging variants, including Omicron.

WHO's Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC), a group of 18 experts, on Tuesday said that although current vaccines provide a high level of protection against severe disease and death caused by Variants Of Concern (VOC), future vaccines that can prevent infection and transmission need to be developed.

In the meantime, the composition of current COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated to protect against the evolution of the virus, Xinhua news agency reported.

Such updates need to be based genetically and antigenically close to the circulating variants. They should also elicit "broad, strong, and long-lasting" responses to "reduce the need for successive booster doses," WHO added.

Advertisement

The experts have encouraged COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to provide data on current and Omicron-specific vaccines' performance to help decide when changes to vaccine composition may be required.

The experts emphasised the importance of more comprehensive global access to current COVID-19 vaccines regarding the recent Omicron variant.

**

The above article has been published from a wire source with minimal modifications to the headline and text.

Advertisement

Your Privacy

To personalise your product experience, we collect data from your device. We also may use or disclose your precise geolocation data to specific data vendors to provide our services. To learn more, view our Privacy Policy.

Choose how my information is shared

Arrow Right
Review all privacy and ad settings
Hidden Weather Icon Masks
Hidden Weather Icon Symbols