The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that the COVID vaccination be included in the basic vaccination schedule for children and adults. The decision follows the experts’ opinion that the SARS-CoV-2 is here to stay.
The February recommendation to include the COVID-19 vaccine in the regular U.S. immunization schedule was issued by the CDC in both children and adults.
It was the first such decision in history. Following this recommendation, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Activities (ACIP) also included vaccination against COVID-19 in its recommendations regarding vaccinations for adults.
This does not mean that vaccination is going to become obligatory for children or adults, but the American epidemiology and immunization authorities have officially recognised that every person who cares about their health should consider vaccination against COVID-19 this year.
Low uptake of bivalent vaccines
The inclusion on the recommended vaccine schedule underscores the fact that COVID-19 is not going away, said Dr Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, physician who serves as an ACIP liaison.
„This reiterates that COVID has gone from pandemic to endemic,” she said. „For now, it looks like it’s here to stay.”
The increasing level of immunity of the society to SARS-CoV-2 results both from the fact that many people have been vaccinated and that a large percentage of Americans have already COVID-19, the expert pointed out.
Most Americans have received the primary series of vaccines against COVID-19, but few have got the updated „bivalent” boosters that target both the original strain of the virus that causes COVID and two Omicron subvariants, Fryhofer said.
The bivalent booster has been available since September last year, but only about 16 per cent of Americans have got a jab, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
„Booster uptake has been sad,” Fryhofer insisted.
Europe to follow the path?
Bivalent vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus are also available in the European Union. The products by American companies Pfizer and Moderna were recommended by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and approved by the European Commission last Autumn.
In December, the approval was extended to all persons over 5 years of age. Bivalent vaccines were also allowed the use not only as a booster dose, but also as a primary vaccination for people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 at all. It was recognized that the so-called the safety profile for the new vaccines is exactly the same as for the first generation ones.
For the time being, neither the EMA nor the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) recommend including COVID-19 vaccination in the vaccination calendar for children or adults.
Moreover, the establishment of vaccination schedules is the responsibility of the Member States, hence differences between the schedules of individual EU states, also regarding compulsory vaccinations.
In France, Poland, Italy, Greece, Latvia and some other EU countries last year, COVID-19 vaccinations were mandatory for all medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, medical students and others.
Booster doses of COVID-19 vaccinations are slightly less popular in Europe than in the US. According to ECDC data, 73 per cent of the EU and European Economic Area population received the first two doses of the vaccine against COVID-19, only 54,1 per cent got a first booster, and 14,1 per cent got a second one (mostly bivalent), and 1,7 – a third one.