Sri Lanka begins administering the COVID-19 booster dose

A health worker inoculates a soldier with a booster shot of the Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at the Army Hospital in Colombo (AFP)

• Experts agree that the booster shot is capable of avoiding the worst outcomes of the disease, which include severe stages of the disease and death
• But there is no unanimous agreement that the booster dose is required
• WHO says it needs $23.4 billion over the next 12 months for its plan to conquer Covid-19
• The Russian made Sputnik Light vaccine has demonstrated 70% effectiveness against the Delta variant three months after injection

Sri Lanka became the latest country to offer booster shots for individuals who have already been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus on Monday. The third dose or the booster dose was administered to frontline health workers including the tri-forces, Police, health and tourism sector personnel and other selected front liners. The programme was launched at the Colombo Army Hospital, where persons who had completed 6 months since vaccination were administered with the booster dose. 

The move to administer booster doses by wealthy countries was at first heavily criticized by the World Health Organization (WHO) which argued that it may hamper efforts to reach vaccines to poorer nations who still haven’t achieved vaccine goals. However, few countries took heed of this warning, as many wealthy nations began administering boosters to critical workforces as well as citizens above 60 years of age. 

"The booster shot is not given in Sri Lanka alone. It’s being administered in the United Kingdom, the United States, and almost every country"

Israel became the world’s first country to administer a booster shot in July, with the country now administering boosters to individuals as young as 12 years. In September, several other countries followed suit, in an effort to bolster immunity in the face of the fast-spreading Delta variant. Medical experts of these countries observed that the change to colder seasons in these countries would force groups of people to spend time together indoors, which increases the risk of community spread.

In Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered the administration of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as a booster dose to the frontline workers. In a statement the President’s Media Division said that the expectation was to bring down the current number of COVID-19 deaths to zero, while focusing on the areas where patients are being reported in order to prevent the virus from spreading.

What is a booster shot?

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States, where much of Coronavirus guidance comes from, now recommends that COVID-19 boosters or additional vaccine doses be administered for individuals who meet certain criteria, such as immunocompromised individuals or those above 65 years.
According to the CDC, a COVID booster shot is an additional dose of a vaccine given after the protection provided by the original shot(s) has begun to decrease over time. Typically, you would get a booster after the immunity from the initial dose(s) naturally starts to wane. The booster is designed to help people maintain their level of immunity for longer.

"It was said that we might have to give the people an annual booster shot, because of all the new variants coming in"

Despite the excitement of many wealthy nations to implement booster programmes, the science of whether they are needed remain unclear. There is no unanimous agreement that the booster dose is required. Certain studies suggest that the protection afforded by the vaccine might actually be waning. But many experts agree that the booster shot is capable of avoiding the worst outcomes of the disease, which include severe stages of the disease and death. However scientists have shown caution against implementing blanket recommendations of the booster shot, which has been the path many governments around the world have decided to take. 

No truth in reports of Chinese vaccine failure

Prior to the booster shot being administered, several reports published in the media citing international studies charged that there was a possibility that Chinese vaccines were ineffective against the evolving virus. The reports added that this was the primary reason that the Sri Lankan government would start administering the booster dose. The Daily Mirror inquired from State Minister of Primary Health Care, Epidemics, and COVID Disease Control Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle who said the decision to administer booster doses were not due to vaccine failures. 
“There is no truth to such reports. The booster shot is not given in Sri Lanka alone. It’s being administered in the United Kingdom, the United States, and almost every country. When the vaccine was first administered it was said that we might have to give the people an annual booster shot, because of all the new variants coming in. This is why we are administering the booster dose, especially to get protection against the new variants that are being reported,” Dr. Fernandopulle said. “Additionally, there is a small drop in antibody levels after six months since the vaccination. This shot is to give these antibody levels a boost. But there is no problem with the Chinese made vaccines,” she stressed. 

"There have been reports that some 7% of elderly citizens didn’t get any immune response after vaccination, according to some research"

Dr. Fernandopulle added that the Chinese jabs were studied by local experts which have revealed that it generates strong immune responses. “According to Sri Lankan research we have got some very good results from the Chinese vaccines. 
There have been reports that some 7% of elderly citizens didn’t get any immune response after vaccination, according to some research. However, not just those who received the Chinese vaccine, persons who received the AstraZeneca jab, the Moderna jab or any other jab, they will all receive a booster dose.”
Asked if there were any plans to administer an additional jab, the Minister said there was no such strategy as of now. “That should be decided as we go on. For now we will be administering the booster shot. Depending on the spread of the virus, future outbreaks etc. It is too early to comment on if we will have to administer an annual jab,” she said. 

Global vaccine developments

UAE
The United Arab Emirates has approved for emergency use the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11, the UAE health ministry said on Monday. Before this decision the only vaccine that had been approved for use in very young children was the Sinopharm vaccine which was approved for ages 3-17, with Pfizer shots being available to children above 12.
“The results of clinical studies indicated that the vaccine is safe and has given a strong immune response to children between the age of 5 and 11 years,” the statement said of the Pfizer shots.
It also said people with chronic diseases who previously received Pfizer-BioNtech or the Russia-developed Sputnik vaccinations can now get a third booster shot. Previously the government had been giving booster shots to people fully vaccinated with Sinopharm vaccines. 

Cambodia
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen declared his country reopen and ready for a new way of life on Monday, having surpassed its COVID-19 vaccination target and recorded one of Asia’s highest inoculation rates. Cambodia has vaccinated nearly 86% of its more than 16 million people, with two million given booster shots already to 300,000 school children. The ratio is similar to that of Singapore.
Cambodia has recorded more than 118,522 coronavirus cases and 2,788 deaths overall, the vast majority this year. The country, among the poorest in Asia, has been lauded for its early success in administering vaccines.  Hun Sen said the government had a supply of 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for boosters and more were on order. Similar to Sri Lanka, the country reopened its theatres and museums at the weekend, reflecting a decline in new coronavirus cases.

United States
In the United States an approximate 17.7 million people have received a booster dose of either Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. Booster doses from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson were authorized by the US health regulator on Oct. 20

Russia
Russia will recommend using the domestically-made Sputnik Light vaccine against COVID-19 only as a booster for people who have already been vaccinated, Russian news agencies reported citing their health minister. 
Russia had previously promoted Sputnik Light, which comprises the first shot of its flagship two-shot Sputnik V, as an effective standalone vaccine as well as a booster that can be combined with non-Russian vaccines. “As the Delta variant is advancing, there will definitely be changes made today to the methodological recommendations on vaccinations where it will (say): only use ‘Sputnik Light’ for re-vaccination,” Health Minister Mikhail Murashko was
quoted as saying. 

Sputnik Light vaccine has demonstrated 70% effectiveness against the Delta variant three months after injection and is likely to become the country’s main vaccine in the future, Russia said earlier this month.
The World Health Organization meanwhile said it needed $23.4 billion over the next 12 months for its plan to conquer Covid-19, urging the G20 to show some leadership and pay up. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus bluntly told the Group of 20 global powers, meeting this weekend in Rome, they could no longer leave poorer countries hanging out to dry in the pandemic.

Tedros said the money was needed to secure Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments -- and potentially prevent another five million deaths in the crisis. The G20 “have the ability to make the political and financial commitments that are needed to end this pandemic”, Tedros told a
press conference.
The $23.4 billion needed to fund it “pales in comparison to the trillions of dollars in economic losses caused by the pandemic and the cost of stimulus plans to support national recoveries”, the WHO said.