GNN October 2021 update

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 NITAG publications and updates:

COVID-19 extended primary series:

  • HAS (France) has issued updated advice on booster vaccination with COMIRNATY mRNA vaccine. The NITAG recommends a booster dose for people aged 65+, health care workers and people living in close contact with an immunocompromised person.
  • Norwegian National Institute of Public Health recommends to offer an extra dose of mRNA vaccine to those who have received one dose of the Janssen vaccine. (source)

Co-administration of COVID-19 vaccines:

  • The Belgian NITAG has issued an advisory report which provides recommendations on concomitant vaccination with COVID-19 vaccines. In particular, the CSS considers that we can simultaneously vaccinate people against seasonal influenza and COVID-19.
  • NACI (Canada) also revised its precautionary approach stating that COVID-19 vaccines be given at least 28 days before and 14 days after other vaccines. It now recommends that COVID-19 vaccines may be given at the same time as, or any time before or after, other vaccines, including live, non-live, adjuvanted or unadjuvanted vaccines. The summary of updates can be found here.

Other vaccination related recommendations:

  • JCVI (UK) published its advice on influenza vaccines for 2022/23, available here.
  • ACIP (USA) updated their recommendations on Meningococcal Vaccination.

SAGE:

At its regular meeting held from 4 to 8 October 2021, SAGE discussed critical topics relating to immunization globally, including COVID-19 vaccines, polio eradication, influenza vaccine, Hepatitis E vaccine, and vaccine acceptance and uptake and included a historic session between and recommendation on the Malaria RTS,s vaccine coming from two expert recommending bodies (SAGE and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group).

Malaria:

  • SAGE and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG) reviewed the evidence on the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine and recommended that the vaccine be used for the prevention of P. falciparum malaria in children living in regions with moderate to high transmission as defined by WHO.
  • The vaccine should be provided in a schedule of 4 doses in children from the age of 5 months to reduce the burden of malaria.
  • Drawing from a growing body of evidence, countries may consider providing the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine seasonally, with a 5-dose strategy in areas with highly seasonal malaria or areas with perennial malaria transmission with seasonal peaks. When countries choose the seasonal deployment of the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, they are strongly encouraged to document their experience, including the vaccine effectiveness, feasibility, and occurrence of any adverse events, to feed into future guidance updates.
  • RTS,S/AS01 introduction should be considered in the context of comprehensive national malaria control plans.

Covid-19:

  • Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 Vaccine (COVAXIN) was reviewed by SAGE; a policy recommendation will be issued when the vaccine is Emergency Use listed by WHO.
  • SAGE recommended that moderately and severely immunocompromised persons should be offered an additional dose of all WHO EUL COVID-19 vaccines as part of an extended primary series since these individuals are less likely to respond adequately to vaccination following a standard primary vaccine series and are at high risk of severe COVID-19 disease.
  • For the Sinovac and Sinopharm inactivated vaccines, an additional (third) dose of the homologous vaccine should be offered to persons aged 60 and above as part of an extended primary series. The use of a heterologous platforms vaccine for the additional dose may also be considered based on vaccine supply and access considerations. When implementing this recommendation, countries should initially aim at maximizing 2-dose coverage in that population, and thereafter administer the third dose, starting in the oldest age groups.

All highlights from the meeting can be accessed here.

All presentations from the meeting are available here.

Upcoming events:

  • Next ACIP meeting is scheduled for October 20-21, 2021 from 10am-5pm Eastern
  • An extraordinary SAGE meeting on COVID-19 booster vaccination is tentatively scheduled for 11 November 2021.
  • We strongly encourage NITAG members to consider application to the ADVAC vaccinology training 2022. For more information, please consult the website (www.advac.org). Registration will close on 15 November 2021.

Opportunities:

Kindly note here a call for expression of interest to become a member of a Technical Advisory on vaccines against AMR to WHO. Please disseminate widely within your networks. We particularly encourage applications from low- and middle-income countries. The deadline for applications is 1November 2021.

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