It is “only a matter of time” before vaccine-resistant COVID variants emerge if we fail to vaccinate poorer countries, the WHO has warned.

On The Hard Shoulder this evening, WHO Special Envoy Dr David Nabarro said he supports Ireland’s plan to offer booster shots to the vulnerable – but warned that a wider booster rollout should not be considered given the global vaccine shortage.

From today booster shots are being rolled out to the immunocompromised in Ireland.

The next phase of the rollout will see third doses being rolled out to people aged 65 and older in long-term residential care and everyone over the age of 80.

Booster

On The Hard Shoulder this evening, Dr Nabarro said he supports the Irish plan.

“I looked at the materials about it and I really like the way in which the process is being done,” he said.

“I have previously said that I am against booster shots being given routinely to people in European countries in addition to the first two shots they have had but I see that the plan that is being developed for Ireland is restricting additional vaccinations to people who are particularly high risk.

“This selection of a subset of the community for booster shots makes really good sense to me and that certainly is the approach that I think I would move toward were I responsible for making these types of difficult decisions.”

Women stand near the gate of a vaccination centre with a notice saying ''vaccine over closed for the day'' in Mumbai, India. Image: Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/ZUMA Wire/Alamy

He warned against any wider booster rollout while poorer countries struggle for supply.

“We have a world shortage of these wonderful vaccines we are using, and that world shortage is not getting better any time quickly,” he said.

“Whatever you see in the papers about donations, the amounts going for the whole world are just not enough.”

Vaccine

He said it is morally wrong to offer widespread boosters while vulnerable people in other countries can’t access the vaccine at all.

On top of that, he said allowing the virus to circulate widely in some parts of the world will inevitably lead to vaccine resistant variants.

“From my perspective, it is actually a public health mistake to just concentrate vaccines in one geographical area and then reckon that is going to provide a level of safety and comfort that will last for a reasonable length of time,” he said.

“Because what we know about this virus is it is capable of mutating and the more virus there is around, the more mutation there will be.

“Quite honestly it is only a matter of time before mutated viruses that are capable of dodging the protection offed by the vaccines we are currently using start to appear and start to appear perhaps in Ireland or Britain or other countries where there is lots of vaccination going on.

“Once these kinds of clever viruses that can deceive our bodies and can get round the protection form the vaccine start to appear, then we are back to square one.

“So, I am basically saying that for me, the right way to use vaccines is to consider the pandemic as a global issue and not an issue for any one country – because that is what it really is.”