EU agency says to focus on vaccines first not booster shots

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is urging countries to ramp up their primary coronavirus vaccine programs and playing down the need for booster shots among the general public

BRUSSELS -- The European Union’s infectious diseases agency on Thursday urged countries to push ahead with their primary coronavirus vaccination programs and played down the need for booster shoots to ward off the delta variant among the general public. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said that approved vaccines are “currently highly effective” in limiting the impact of COVID-19. “The priority now should be to vaccinate all those eligible individuals who have not yet completed their recommended vaccination course,” it said. After a slow start to Europe’s vaccine drive, the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, announced this week that on average 70% of adults are fully vaccinated across the 27-nation bloc. But national vaccination rates vary, with Bulgaria and Romania notably slow with their programs. On Wednesday, France became the first big EU country to start administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccine to people over 65 and those with underlying health conditions as the delta variant spreads in the country. Spanish health authorities are considering similar action.