Repeat Booster Shots Spur European Warning on Immune-System Risks

European Union regulators warned that frequent Covid-19 booster shots could adversely affect the immune system and may not be feasible.  

Repeat booster doses every four months could eventually weaken the immune system and tire out people, according to the https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/7535532Z:LN" style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none;" title="Company Overview - European Medicines Agency . Instead, countries should leave more time between booster programs and tie them to the onset of the cold season in each hemisphere, following the blueprint set out by influenza vaccination strategies, the agency said. 

The advice comes as some countries consider the possibility of offering people second booster shots in a bid to provide further protection against surging omicron infections. Earlier this month Israel became the first nation to start administering a second booster, or fourth shot, to those over 60. The U.K. has said that boosters are providing good levels of protection and there is  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-07/boosters-protect-well-against-omicron-in-older-people-u-k-says" style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none;" title="Boosters Protect Well Against Omicron in Older People, U.K. Says - no need for a second booster shot at the moment, but will review data as it evolves. 

Boosters “can be done once, or maybe twice, but it’s not something that we can think should be repeated constantly,” Marco Cavaleri, the EMA head of biological health threats and vaccines strategy, said at a press briefing on Tuesday. “We need to think about how we can transition from the current pandemic setting to a more endemic setting.”

The EU regulator also said at the briefing that oral and intravenous antivirals, such as Paxlovid and Remdesivir, maintain their efficacy against omicron. The agency said that April is the soonest it could approve a new vaccine targeting a specific variant, as the process  takes about three to four months. Some of the world’s largest vaccine-makers have said they are looking at producing vaccines that could target new variants. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-11/repeat-booster-shots-risk-overloading-immune-system-ema-says - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-11/repeat-booster-shots-risk-overloading-immune-system-ema-says

What a curious thing for them to say. It makes you wonder what the data or information they have is.

[url]https://www.who.int/news/item/11-01-2022-interim-statement-on-covid-19-vaccines-in-the-context-of-the-circulation-of-the-omicron-sars-cov-2-variant-from-the-who-technical-advisory-group-on-covid-19-vaccine-composition[/url] or https://www.who.int/news/item/11-01-2022-interim-statement-on-covid-19-vaccines-in-the-context-of-the-circulation-of-the-omicron-sars-cov-2-variant-from-the-who-technical-advisory-group-on-covid-19-vaccine-composition - https://www.who.int/news/item/11-01-2022-interim-statement-on-covid-19-vaccines-in-the-context-of-the-circulation-of-the-omicron-sars-cov-2-variant-from-the-who-technical-advisory-group-on-covid-19-vaccine-composition ;

Composition of current and future COVID-19 vaccines

The TAG-CO-VAC considers that 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. Until such vaccines are available, and as the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, the composition of current COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated, to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines continue to provide  https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/who-target-product-profiles-for-covid-19-vaccines" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 141, 201); text-decoration: none; - WHO-recommended levels of protection against infection and disease[4] by VOCs, including Omicron and future variants.

The TAG-CO-VAC will consider a change in vaccine composition:

• to ensure that vaccines continue to meet the criteria established in WHO’s Target Product Profile for COVID-19 vaccines, including protection against severe disease
• to improve vaccine-induced protection.

To that aim, COVID-19 vaccines need to:

• be based on strains that are genetically and antigenically close to the circulating SARS-CoV-2 variant(s);
• in addition to protection against severe disease and death, be more effective in protection against infection thus lowering community transmission and the need for stringent and broad-reaching public health and social measures;
• elicit immune responses that are broad, strong, and long-lasting in order to reduce the need for successive booster doses.

In line with this approach, there are many options to consider:

• a monovalent vaccine that elicits an immune response against the predominant circulating variant(s), although this option faces the challenge of the rapid emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and the time needed to develop a modified or new vaccine;
• a multivalent vaccine containing antigens from different SARS-CoV-2 VOCs;
• a pan SARS-CoV-2 vaccine: a more sustainable long-term option that would effectively be variant-proof.

In the interim, the TAG-CO-VAC encourages COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to generate and provide data on performance of current and Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccines, including the breadth, magnitude, and durability of humoral and cell mediated immune responses to variants through monovalent and/or multivalent vaccines.

DJ The WHO repeating better GLOBAL distribution of vaccines is needed. Many parts of the globe have hardly seen any vaccines resulting in lots of-severe-cases. But also more mutations, variants...vaccines do not do a perfect job in stop spreading the virus but they do limit somewhat the spread...(I did get two columns of the story...????)