WHO panel to discuss COVID-19 booster shots on November 11

 An advisory panel of the World Health Organisation (WHO) is set to discuss the need for COVID-19 booster doses on November 11.

Director of the WHO's Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals, Kate O'Brien on Monday said that the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) will discuss the need for COVID-19 booster shots on November 11, Sputnik news agency reported.

Earlier this month, the European Medicines Agency recommended the use of a booster dose of BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for immunocompromised individuals.

Last Monday, WHO had said that it is reviewing the emerging evidence on the need for and timing of a booster dose for the currently available COVID-19 vaccines which have received Emergency Use Listing (EUL).

Booster doses are administered to a vaccinated population that has completed a primary vaccination series when, with time, the immunity and clinical protection has fallen below a rate deemed sufficient in that population.

The objective of a booster dose is to restore vaccine effectiveness from that deemed no longer sufficient.