Prognosis

Don’t Count on Needing a Covid Booster Shot, WHO Scientist Says

  • Data on immune protection are still emerging, Swaminathan says
  • Booster shots are likely to be rolled out in U.K. in the fall
WATCH: Will vaccinated people need a Covid-19 booster shot? WHO's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan says it’s too early to tell.(Source: Quicktake)
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As some governments and pharmaceutical officials prepare for Covid booster shots targeting more-infectious virus variants, health authorities say it’s too early to tell if they will be required.

“We do not have the information that’s necessary to make the recommendation on whether or not a booster will be needed,” Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, said in a Zoom interview Friday. The “science is still evolving.”