An advisory group of vaccine experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recommended the international community to set the goal of vaccination in 70% of the world's population by mid 2022, an objective that can be achieved thanks to development and availability of vaccines intended for younger age groups.

Alejandro Craviototo, president of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts at WHO (SAGE) shared on Monday, Oct. 11, the WHO recommendation to patients belonging to groups considered "at risk" to apply for a third dose of any of vaccine against COVID-19.

The entity requested in August of this year to extend booster inoculations despite the shortage of initial vaccines in some parts of the world. After a sustained meeting last week, in which vaccination strategies were evaluated, not only against COVID, but also malaria and polio, it was decided to start the new stage.

Cravioto stressed that the recommendation of a third dose extends to all vaccines approved by WHO for emergency use during the pandemic. Initially, they will be administered to the most immunocompromised, and in the case of Chinese vaccines, it is recommended to administer it to patients over 60 years old.

In case there is no availability of the same vaccine as someone's first two doses, WHO authorizes a dose of another vaccine that is homologous.

Here are the companies that so far, have the approval of WHO to administer an emergency vaccine against COVID-19:

Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Jhonson, Sinopharm and Sinovac. The inclusion of a new vaccine of Indian origin is planned for the next days from the company Bharat.

Remember, the vaccine does not prevent one from getting sick or transmitting the disease. Regardless of the brand of vaccine, it serves to eliminate the most severe cases of the virus and decrease the risk of death, but it is necessary to continue with safety and social distancing measures to curb the continued spread of COVID-19.