The World Health Organization has recommended that immunocompromised individuals should receive an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine, considering that they have a higher risk of breakthrough infections following standard vaccination.

According to the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization, the additional vaccine dose should be given as part of an extended primary series as these people appear to be less likely to show an adequate response to vaccination following a standard primary vaccine series. These individuals also have a high risk of severe COVID-19 disease, it stated.

The group of experts recommended that those above 60 years of age should be given an additional dose of the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines around one to three months following completion of their schedule, while citing data from studies in Latin America that they perform less well over time… (Reuters, October 11, 2021)