The global COVID-19 response should shift from crisis management to long-term control strategy urgently, according to a March 29 report from Duke University and the Rockefeller Foundation.
The report states that given the omicron variants' extreme transmissibility and partial immune evasion, the goal of vaccination has changed, and the World Health Organization's goal of achieving 70 percent primary coverage of vaccination may no longer be the best path. Instead, it suggests that the strategy should be shifted to focus on fully vaccinating and boosting the most vulnerable groups to minimize severe disease and death and free up hospital space.
The report calls for four main actions to be taken by national leaders and multilateral organizations:
- Support national goals that reflect the reality and priorities of local communities.
- Shift away from the 70 percent primary vaccination coverage of all groups to a hyper-focused 90 percent coverage goal of the most vulnerable populations.
- Ensure equitable access to COVID-19 treatments, including oral antivirals.
- Increase manufacturing abilities and scale of vaccines, treatments and diagnostics in low and middle income countries.