GNN September 2021 update

Please find below the GNN monthly update for September’ 21:

 

NITAG publications and updates:

 

COVID-19 booster Dose:

• JCVI (UK) has issued updated advice on COVID-19 booster vaccination.
• The Belgian NITAG recommends an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for older adults (age cut-off: 65 years). The advice is available in French here.

 

Priority Groups: Children and Adolescents

• CAVEI (Chile) has issued recommendations on covid-19 vaccination in children from 6 years old. It recommends the vaccination of children from 6 to 11 years with the vaccine CoronaVac®, starting with those at higher risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2 and severe COVID 19, that is, children with comorbidities, immunosuppressed and with risk conditions such as obesity. Subsequently, vaccinate healthy 6- to 11-year-olds in descending order of age.
• JCVI (UK) has issued updated advice on COVID-19 vaccination of children aged 12 to 15.
• NACI (Canada) has issued updated recommendation on the use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in adolescents 12 to 17 years of age.

 

Priority Groups: Immunocompromised

• NACI (Canada) has issued a guidance document to provide advice on the use of an additional dose of a COVID-19 vaccine following receipt of a standard 1- or 2-dose primary series in moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals in Canada.
• JCVI (UK) has issued advice on third primary COVID-19 vaccine dose for people who are immunosuppressed.

 

Other vaccination related recommendations:

• ATAGI (Australia) has updated its statement on the Clinical use of Zoster vaccine in older adults in Australia.

  

WHO global guidance resources:

• WHO has issued a technical document to provide an overview of the different observational studies that are being conducted to assess the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination, including key features in terms of study design, sample size, study population, key outcomes measured and location of study. 
• The COVAX Maternal Immunization Working Group has developed an FAQ on Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) and WHO Emergency Use Listed (EUL) Adenovirus-Vectored COVID-19 Vaccines During Pregnancy. Given the increased risk of both thrombotic and/or thrombocytopenic events associated with pregnancy, this FAQ document (attached) aims to characterize the current state of knowledge regarding the risk of TTS following adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccine immunization during pregnancy.

 

Upcoming events:

• SAGE will be held from Monday October 4^th to 7^th inclusive. The yellow book with all background documents can be accessed here.
• An extraordinary SAGE meeting on COVID-19 booster vaccination is tentatively scheduled for November 11^th.

• We strongly encourage NITAG members who have never been to register to the ADVAC vaccinology training 2022. For more information, please consult the website (www.advac.org). Registration will close on 15 November 2021.

 

Did you know?

The Robert Koch Institute is collecting the most relevant systematic reviews in the immunization field and is assessing their quality, using the AMSTAR 2 appraisal tool. The collected systematic reviews are available in the registry on the NRC. To learn more about the project, watch this video.