Repeating booster doses of the original COVID-19 vaccine is not a "sustainable" strategy, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
"A vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable," the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-Co-VAC) said in a statement.
WHO is calling for research and development into new vaccines that better protect people from catching the virus and specifically target new strains, such as Omicron.
"COVID-19 vaccines that have high impact on prevention of infection and transmission, in addition to the prevention of severe disease and death, are needed and should be developed," the statement said.
TAG-Co-VAC said COVID-19 vaccines will need to be based off strains that are genetically and antigenically close to the circulating variant. In addition, they need to not only protect against severe disease and death, but be more effective in protecting against infection to decrease community transmission.
"Elicit immune responses that are broad, strong, and long-lasting in order to reduce the need for successive booster doses," WHO's statement said.
There are 331 candidate vaccines being worked on around the world, with the UN Health Agency have only given approval to eight vaccines, The Guardian reported.
In New Zealand, the Pfizer vaccine is the preferred COVID-19 vaccine, but people 18 years and older have the option to get the AstraZeneca vaccine instead.
Regardless of what vaccine was used for the earlier dose, the Pfizer vaccine is the preferred vaccine for booster shots.
