WHO recommends use of AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine for all above 18 years

Mumbai: The World Health Organisation’s expert panel on vaccines on Wednesday recommended the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine for all people aged 18 and older.

The recommendation was given by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE), which is charged with advising WHO on overall global policies and strategies ranging from vaccines to technology.

“This is one of the main vaccines in the Covax facility, so this is an important milestone,” Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at WHO, told reporters.


The global health body has also called on vaccine makers to be prepared to adjust their vaccines to the new variants of the SARS Cov2 virus, as the threat of approved vaccines being ineffective against the new strains looms large.

"The emergence of variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, serve as a powerful reminder that viruses by their very nature mutate, and that the scientific response may need to adapt if they are to remain effective against them," said a statement from Covax.

In the statement, the global health coalition asked manufacturers to be prepared to adjust to the SARS-CoV-2 viral evolution, including potentially providing future booster shots and adapted vaccines, if found to be scientifically necessary. It also wants companies to design trials in a way that allows for scale up and interpretation of the data.

Earlier this week, South Africa paused the administration of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine as they found in limited data that the vaccine was ineffective against the variant.

The conundrum for WHO is to determine the efficacy of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in the context of the B.1.251 variant.

For this reason, immunologists such as Anthony Fauci, have called on countries to immunise their high-risk groups as soon as possible to minimise the chain of transmission. There is also a renewed call to enhance the global surveillance of new emerging variants.

Covax has said it will need additional studies to confirm the optimal vaccination schedule and its impact on vaccine efficacy.