The WHO Wants Countries To Stop Giving Booster Doses Right Now & This Is Why

The World Health Organization (WHO) is asking countries to hold off on administering COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to their populations.

During a conference on August 4, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said that while there are still populations that "need vaccines urgently" and millions of people are waiting for first doses, some rich countries are already administering or working towards giving booster doses.

"We need an urgent reversal from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries to the majority going to low-income countries," said Tedros.

The WHO is calling for countries to stop giving boosters until at least the end of September. The goal is to help at least 10% of the population in every country get vaccinated.

"I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it, while the world's most vulnerable people remain unprotected," said Tedros.

Recently, a vaccine researcher and infectious disease physician told Narcity that it's possible some Canadians will need a third booster dose but that more research needs to be done to understand its effectiveness. Meanwhile, Quebec is already offering third doses to people whose vaccination status isn't recognized in some countries because of which vaccine doses they received.