‘Average person’ will not need Covid booster shot yet, experts say

International experts say the “average person” won’t require a booster shot yet, as existing vaccines work well to protect against the Delta variant.

The “average person” won’t yet need a Covid-19 booster shot, a group of international scientists have written in a new opinion piece.

The piece was published in The Lancet this morning by 16 authors, which include leading vaccine researchers from the US, Britain, France, South Africa and India, and scientists with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Based on studies of the vaccines’ performance, the article concluded the existing shots (at two doses) were working well despite the highly infectious Delta variant.

“Even in populations with fairly high vaccination rates, the unvaccinated are still the major drivers of transmission” at this stage of the pandemic, the group concluded.

“If boosting were eventually shown to decrease the medium-term risk of serious disease, current vaccine supplies could save more lives if used in previously unvaccinated populations than if used as boosters in vaccinated populations,” they wrote.

“Boosting could be appropriate for some individuals in whom the primary vaccination, defined here as the original one-dose or two-dose series of each vaccine, might not have induced adequate protection.”

While booster shots “might ultimately be needed in the general population because of waning immunity to the primary vaccination or because variants expressing new antigens have evolved to the point at which immune responses in the original vaccine antigens no longer protect adequately against currently circulating viruses”, introducing them too soon or “too frequently” also poses risks.

“If unnecessary boosting causes significant adverse reactions, there could be implications for vaccine acceptance that go beyond Covid-19 vaccines,” the group noted.

“Thus, widespread boosting should be undertaken only if there is clear evidence that it is appropriate.”

Appearing on the ABC’s 7.30 program last week, the co-creator of Oxford University’s AstraZeneca vaccine also said she was “confident” people wouldn’t need regular booster shots to maintain their immunity against the virus.

Professor Sarah Gilbert said while “there may be a first booster program...I wouldn’t expect it to happen every single year”.

“We’re going to develop long-term immunity to this virus. I think that the most vulnerable, the oldest members of society, those who are immunocompromised are going to need regular boosters,” she added.

“But for younger people, we normally see good maintenance of immune responses.”

International experts have written that the ‘average person’ won’t require a Covid-19 booster shot yet. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

Medical experts have stressed it’s more important to get everyone to two doses of the vaccine first. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dylan Coker

As vaccine uptake continues in Australia, medical experts are still deciding when to roll out booster shots - though it doesn’t appear likely in the coming months.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently told 2GB radio that we’ll “get to the booster stage next year”, while former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth told the Today show on Monday that we need to focus on getting people to two doses first.

“The booster question is an interesting one,” Dr Coatsworth said.

“Any time you’re exposed to a vaccine, your antibody levels will decrease over time. That’s just what happens with the human body and it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re any less immune in the medium-term - say six to 12 months afterwards.

“So it’s probably going to be for people with immune-compromised conditions, people without as strong immune systems, yes we need to consider it.”