The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it is not yet recommending the use of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine booster doses.

WHO Coordinator for Essential Medicines and Health Technologies Dr. Socorro Escalante said that further studies are still currently being conducted about booster doses.

“At this point in time, we really do not have sufficient evidence to say that we need these booster doses now,” said Escalante during a virtual forum on Wednesday, Aug. 25.

“We are also really urging that the introduction of booster doses should be firmly evidence-driven and targeted to the population groups in greatest need,” she added.

With the limited supply of vaccines globally, the prioritization framework should still be followed, said Escalante.

“The focus should be ensuring that countries use limited vaccine supply to fully vaccinate people with first and second doses, especially the priority groups, or who are most at risk of infection,” she said.

“Within the context of the very constrained global supply, our priority will be for countries to ensure that the vaccines that are available to them are used to cover the priority groups including the healthcare workers, the elderly, and the vulnerable,” she added.

The WHO, meanwhile, will continue to cooperate with experts and scientists with regards to booster doses, said Escalante.

“Indeed, there have been a lot of discussions on whether or not booster doses will be provided to individuals who have already been vaccinated and there are initiatives or studies that are already being undertaken to determine the need of booster doses,” she said.

“ WHO will continue to work with scientists and experts around the world to continue with these studies,” she added.