By A Correspondent- The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is not necessary to administer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for the whole population as a way of providing greater protection against Omicron.

Zimbabwe recently directed all frontline workers and people with chronic diseases to get COVID-19 booster shots with immediate effect to protect them against the Omicron variant.

World Health Organisation head of emergencies programme, Michael Ryan said there is no evidence that shows booster shots are needed by the entire population. He said:

Right now, there is no evidence that I am aware of that suggests that boosting the entire population is going to necessarily provide greater protection for otherwise healthier individuals against hospitalisation and death.

Otherwise, the real risk of severe disease hospitalisation and death lies in particularly vulnerable individuals who require protection against the variants of COVID-19.

In countries in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in Europe, governments have recommended booster shots for their citizens who are fully vaccinated.

Zimbabwe has experienced a surge in new coronavirus infections in recent days. Cases rose from 255 on Monday last week, 399 on Tuesday and 712 on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the country recorded 1 042 new cases, 1 062 on Friday and 1 082 on Saturday.

On Sunday, new cases fell to 523 because fewer people were tested (2 500), with the test positivity at 21.0%, up from 15.2% on Saturday.-newsday