Protection from the vaccines against COVID-19 and its variants begins to decline over time, mainly in older people with underlying health problems. The current vaccines have an efficacy of up to 97.5% against the previous variant, Delta, and 40-70% efficacy against the Omicron variant. A booster dose would effectively combat the variants, according to preliminary findings from ongoing clinical trials. Given the rise of Omicron cases, World Health Organization (WHO) has supported the second booster shot for the vulnerable population with a weak immune system. Pfizer–BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson are major COVID-19 vaccines with booster doses available worldwide.
Booster dose penetration in the US and European Nations
Several countries, including the US, the UK, and European Union (EU), have started giving booster doses to older and vulnerable people.
In the US, around 221 million people (67.7% of the population) are completely vaccinated as of June 9, 2022, with 104 million receiving booster shots. Health officials should encourage people to obtain the vaccine and build trust among its citizens to increase the vaccination rate since the US has the highest number of active cases worldwide. To protect its citizens, especially children, against new variants, the US has announced an operational plan for COVID-19 vaccinations for children under five on June 9, 2022.
In France, 96.6 million people are fully vaccinated, of which 81% got booster doses. France’s rate of booster doses is one of the highest in European countries, given the robust vaccination campaign, particularly for older people and people with unique health risks.
In Italy, around 85.6 million people have been fully vaccinated, with 83% receiving booster shots. Germany has crossed the herd immunity threshold as 78% of its population (64.5 million) are fully vaccinated, of which 77% got booster doses.
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