Considerations in boosting COVID vaccine immune responses.

13 August 2021 13:00 – 18:00 CET

WHO consultation on COVID-19 vaccines research – 13 August 2021

 

Report of consultation is available HERE

In continuation to the scientific discussions on COVID-19 vaccines research, WHO R&D Blueprint organized a consultation on the state of the art and best research methods to evaluate existing, modified and new COVID-19 vaccines.

The objectives of this consultation was to review the available evidence on the efficacy and effectiveness of vaccines being deployed in terms of:

  • Emerging variants effect on protection levels 
  • Duration of protection
  • Safety of booster vaccines
  • Research to evaluate various delivery strategies

During the consultation, experts debated the methodological strengths and limitations of existing data and the potential designs to generate additional data leading to evidence-based decisions. The AGENDA items were focused on:

  • Available randomized and non-randomized data on COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and effectiveness against different variants, and initial assessment of risk of bias and confounding.
  • Available randomized and non-randomized data on COVID-19 vaccines' duration of protection and methodological challenges with its interpretation.
  • Vaccine developers update about their current progress and plans to generate evidence to inform discussions on the need and pertinence of booster vaccines.
  • Opportunities and designs to be considered in the generation of additional data.

Presenters, panel members and invited experts included:

  • Global experts on evidence synthesis and critical appraisal of evidence
  • Leading researchers on COVID-19 vaccine studies
  • Clinical trial and observational study methodologists
  • Vaccine developers


Presentations

Session 1. What do we know and what additional evidence is needed to inform decisions on booster doses?

Additional evidence on booster doses: developers’ perspective:

Public health and safety perspectives on booster dosing:

Session 2. How can research contribute to optimize the use of available doses of COVID-19 vaccines?

 

 

Available COVID-19 Vaccine tools at WHO website