Both Germany and the United Kingdom are weighing a decision on administering fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses to select groups in their populations as the omicron variant surges across Europe, according to multiple reports.
Pediatric professor Adam Finn at the University of Bristol in the U.K. who is a member of Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said last week, “I think there will be people probably who will receive a fourth jab. Whether that will be everyone, I think, is still very much in doubt … We do need to see how things go through this wave and beyond,” according to The Guardian.
Germany’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who is also a physician and scientist, stated that he believes a fourth COVID-19 vaccine, a second booster, will be necessary, according to Politico Europe.
“Personally, I would expect a fourth vaccination,” said Lauterbach when speaking on a German radio station. He also stated last week that he “would assume” that the fourth shot “will be necessary.”
But Lauterbach added that the jury was still out on the scientific evidence linked to protection from an additional booster.