Amid fears about the much more contagious Delta variant of Covid-19, some countries have started offering booster doses. But a report published in The Lancet says that there is currently no need for a booster dose against Covid-19 in fully vaccinated people. “Vaccines are effective enough at preventing severe cases of Covid-19," the report said. It added that the available vaccine supply will save far more lives if given to those who haven’t been inoculated at all.

“The vaccines that are currently available are safe, effective, and save lives. The limited supply of these vaccines will save the most lives if made available to people who are at appreciable risk of serious disease and have not yet received any vaccine. Even if some gain can ultimately be obtained from boosting, it will not outweigh the benefits of providing initial protection to the unvaccinated. If vaccines are deployed where they would do the most good, they could hasten the end of the pandemic by inhibiting further evolution of variants," said the report

The new report by scientists concluded that even with the threat of Delta, "booster doses for the general population are not appropriate at this stage in the pandemic".

Earlier, the World Health Organisation had called for a moratorium on boosting until the benefits of primary vaccination have been made available to more people around the world.

“The limited supply of these vaccines will save the most lives if made available to people who are at appreciable risk of serious disease and have not yet received any vaccine. Even if some gain can ultimately be obtained from boosting, it will not outweigh the benefits of providing initial protection to the unvaccinated," said the report, co-authored by WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan, published in Lancet on Monday.

Countries like France have started distributing third jabs to the elderly and people with compromised immune systems,