On March 28, 2023 following the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) meeting, they updated the COVID-19 vaccination guidance with a roadmap for priotizing the vaccines in the “the Omicron era”. [1]
With an “overall decline in disease severity“, and with a “high level of [herd] immunity” globally, in all age groups, as a result of either infection [natural immunity], vaccine-induced immunity, or hybrid immunity, the guidance is now based on a “simplified” prioriry classification of low, medium and high risk grouping. [1]
Healthy children and adolescents are now “low priority” for COVID-19 vaccination, even though “[p]rimary and booster doses are safe and effective in children and adolescents” – but a high priority for children is their routine vaccinations.
Vaccinating pregnant “persons” to “protects both them and the fetus”, is a priority as “the burden of severe COVID-19 in infants under 6 months is still higher than in children aged 6 months to 5 years” [!!!]
SAGE make no mention of COVID-19 vaccine risks or mounting injuries, particularly in the working age groups and children or pregnancy.
“SAGE also updated their recommendations on bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, now recommending that countries can consider using BA.5 bivalent mRNA vaccine for the primary series”, not just a booster!