The debate over the need for booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine is heating up.
On Monday top scientists at the World Health Organization and two departing scientists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wrote in an article in the Lancet medical journal that booster shots are not needed for the general population.
One of the authors was the WHO's Chief Scientist who has been vocal for quite some time on the issue.
"On the science side which we're tracking very closely, and we recently had an expert group meeting with scientists from around the world, this included researchers, it included regulatory experts from different regulatory agencies, there was consensus that the data around the need for boosters is not conclusive."
The journal said that six months after getting two shots of the vaccine, the chance of hospitalization had only risen slightly for those over 75 years old.
And that, as for now, immunity levels after six months didn't show much difference.
This goes directly against some of the decisions by countries around the world including the U.S. where booster shots will be rolled out in a few days.
"Of course, the decision of which booster shots to give, and when to start them, and who will give them will be completely left to the scientists at the FDA and the Center for Disease Control. But while we wait, we have done our part. We bought enough boosters, enough booster shots and the distribution system is ready to administer them."
The authors of the journal added that booster shots coming too soon or too frequently could even be dangerous to recipients AND that using the supply to administer first shots to unvaccinated people would save more lives.
Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News.