WHO: Existing COVID-19 vaccines also need to be updated to deal with future variants

The World Health Organization issued a statement on the 11th that the new crown vaccine that has been urgently used by WHO is still effective against the Aumecreon strain, but the existing new crown vaccine may need to be updated to continue to provide sufficient protection for people to deal with the current and future mutation of the new crown virus.

Experts from who's Technical Advisory Group on the Composition of COVID-19 Vaccines are currently analysing evidence related to "needing attention" variants and may revise recommendations for the components of THE NEW CORONAVIRUS vaccine lines accordingly, the statement said. According to the transmissibility and pathogenicity of the mutated new coronavirus, WHO lists the mutated strains as "needing attention" or "needing attention", of which the Omiljung strain and the Delta strain are all mutant strains that "need attention".

The WHO Technical Advisory Group on the Composition of COVID-19 Vaccines was established last September and is composed of 18 experts from different disciplines. A temporary statement issued by the expert group on the 11th said that the new crown vaccine that has been certified by WHO for emergency use is still effective against mutant strains such as Omicron, especially for severe covid-19 and death. But at the same time, experts also stressed the need to develop vaccines that can better prevent the infection and spread of the new crown virus in the future.

In addition, as the coronavirus mutates, the composition of existing COVID-19 vaccines may also need to be updated to ensure that the level of protection recommended by WHO continues to be provided in the face of infections and diseases caused by the Omiljun strain and other "concern-needing" variants that may arise in the future.

Specifically, the composition of the updated vaccine strain needs to be genetically similar to that of the ongoing mutant virus in terms of genes and antigens, be more effective at preventing infection, and be able to elicit a "broad, intense and long-lasting" immune response to "reduce the need for continuous booster needles."

WHO has also proposed options for updated protocols, including the development of monovalent vaccines for major circulating variants, polyvalent vaccines containing antigens from multiple "concerned" variants, or long-term vaccines with better ongoing development that are still effective against different variants.

In response to the current multi-country epidemic of the Olmikron strain, the expert group called for a wider global roll-out of full vaccination and enhanced vaccination programmes, hoping to help reduce the emergence of new "attention-needing" variants and reduce their harm.