WHO updates recommendations for vaccination against COVID-19. The booster should be given up to 1 year after the last dose.

For bivalent vaccine, gray cap – Image: André Araújo / Governo do Tocantins

The World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (Sage) on Tuesday updated its recommendations for vaccines against Covid-19, noting that the population High risk should receive an additional dose within 12 months of the last booster dose.

The new document divides the recommendation into three groups: high, medium and low priority.

The most important: older younger adults with significant comorbidities (eg, diabetes, heart disease); People with reduced immunity (eg: HIV positive, transplant recipients), including children 6 months of age and older; Pregnant women and healthcare professionals on the front lines.
medium priority: Healthy adults (generally younger than 50-60 years) without comorbidities, and children and adolescents with comorbidities.
Low priority: Healthy children and adolescents between 6 months and 17 years of age.

for a group The most importantSage recommends Extra booster 6 to 1 year after last dose, with the time frame dependent on factors such as age and other conditions. The document warns that “all recommendations are limited in time, and apply only to the current epidemiological scenario.”

Now who is in groups medium and low priority You must receive The initial series and the first anabolic doses.

WHO experts note that children with immunodeficiency diseases and comorbidities have a higher risk of contracting Covid-19 in the severe form, and therefore “are included in the high and medium priority groups, respectively.”

“While the burden of severe Covid-19 is generally low, in infants less than 6 months of age It is still higher than in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. pregnant vaccination Including an additional dose if it has been more than 6 months since the last dose It protects them and the fetus, while helping to reduce the likelihood of babies being hospitalized from Covid-19.”

Sage has also updated its recommendations for bivalent Covid-19 vaccines. The document directs countries to begin considering use of the BA.5 bivalent vaccine for the primary series.

vaccination in Brazil

people over 60 years old;
people who live in long-term care (ILP) facilities;
immunocompromised patients from 12 years of age;
indigenous, riparian and quilombola communities;
pregnant women and postpartum women;
health workers (from 04/17);
persons with permanent disabilities from the age of 12 (from 04/17);
residents deprived of their liberty (as of 4/17);
Adolescents serving social and educational measures and employees in the regime of deprivation of liberty (as of 4/17).

See recommendations for other age groups:

40 to 59 years: Primary vaccination schedule (2 doses) + 2 booster doses;
From 12 to 39 years old: primary vaccination schedule (2 doses) + booster dose with an interval of at least 4 months between doses;
From 5 to 11 years old: primary vaccination scheme (2 doses) + booster (preferably Pfizer) with a minimum interval of 4 months between doses;
3 and 4 years old (CoronaVac): Primary (2 doses) + booster (preferably Pfizer) vaccination scheme with a minimum interval of 4 months between doses;
6 months to 4 years (Pfizer): Primary vaccination schedule (three doses).