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News about coronavirus in Florida and around the world is constantly emerging. It's hard to stay on top of it all but Health News Florida can help. Our responsibility is to keep you informed, and to help discern what’s important for your family as you make what could be life-saving decisions.

WHO says COVID boosters are needed, reversing a previous call

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
Moises Castillo
/
The Florida Channel
A healthcare worker administers an AstraZeneca booster shot for COVID 19 at a vaccination center in Guatemala City, Tuesday, March 1, 2022.

WHO said its expert group concluded that immunization provide high levels of protection against severe disease and death amid the global circulation of the omicron variant.

An expert group convened by the World Health Organization said it “strongly supports urgent and broad access” to coronavirus vaccines, including booster doses.

The call is a reversal of the U.N. health agency’s previous insistence that booster doses weren’t necessary and contributing to vaccine inequity.

In a statement on Tuesday, WHO said its expert group concluded that immunization with authorized COVID-19 vaccines provide high levels of protection against severe disease and death amid the global circulation of the hugely contagious omicron variant.

Last year, WHO’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for a moratorium on booster doses, pleading with rich countries to donate their vaccines instead.

Click here to read more of this article from the Associated Press.