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WHO Revises COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations for Omicron-Era

Workers walk on a street in Beijing, China, 27 March, 2023. (EPA)
Workers walk on a street in Beijing, China, 27 March, 2023. (EPA)
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WHO Revises COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations for Omicron-Era

Workers walk on a street in Beijing, China, 27 March, 2023. (EPA)
Workers walk on a street in Beijing, China, 27 March, 2023. (EPA)

The World Health Organization has tailored its COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for a new phase of the pandemic, suggesting that healthy children and adolescents may not necessarily need a shot but older, high-risk groups should get a booster between 6 to 12 months after their last vaccine.

The UN agency said the aim was to focus efforts on vaccinating those facing the greatest threat of severe disease and death from COVID-19, considering the high-level population immunity worldwide due to widespread infection and vaccination.

The health agency defined high-risk populations as older adults, as well as younger people with other significant risk factors. For this group, the agency recommends an additional shot of the vaccine either 6 or 12 months after the latest dose, based on factors such as age and immunocompromising conditions.

Meanwhile, it said healthy children and adolescents were "low priority" for COVID-19 vaccination, and urged countries to consider factors like disease burden before recommending vaccination of this group. It said the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters were safe for all ages, but the recommendations took into account other factors like cost-effectiveness.

The WHO said in September last year that the end of the pandemic was "in sight". In a briefing on Tuesday, the agency said its latest advice reflected the current disease picture and global immunity levels, but should not be seen as long-term guidance over whether annual boosters would be needed.

The recommendations come as countries take differing approaches. Some high-income countries like the United Kingdom and Canada are already offering those at high-risk COVID-19 boosters this spring, six months after their last dose.

"The revised roadmap re-emphasizes the importance of vaccinating those still at-risk of severe disease," said Hanna Nohynek, chair of the WHO's Strategic Group of Experts on immunization, which made the recommendations.

The committee also called for urgent efforts to catch up on routine vaccinations missed during the pandemic and warned of a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases like measles.

For COVID, it said that vaccines beyond the initial two shots and a booster were no longer routinely recommended for those at "medium risk" as benefits were marginal.

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Should You Stretch before Exercise? After? Never? Here’s What to Know

Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
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Should You Stretch before Exercise? After? Never? Here’s What to Know

Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)

For many people of a certain age, high school gym class began with reaching for their toes. Then, over the years, we were told it was better to stretch after exercise.

It turns out, both those things can be true, but the differing advice has created some confusion.

Stretching can help make you more flexible, improve range of motion in your joints — and feel good. David Behm, who researches human kinetics at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, Canada, offers this advice on when to stretch and how to do it safely:

Warm up first

It’s almost always good to stretch, but it’s better if you warm up first, said Behm, author of "The Science and Physiology of Flexibility and Stretching." He recommends a light aerobic activity such as jogging, walking or cycling for five or 10 minutes.

Follow that with some static stretching, the traditional way of reaching and holding a position (think back to that gym class). You can then do activity-specific dynamic stretching, in which you warm up the muscles with repetitive movements like leg lifts.

Behm says one minute is "the magic number" for how long to do static stretching per muscle group without fatigue.

Expand your definition of 'stretching'

Should you always stretch before exercising? If it's traditional stretching, not necessarily.

The better question, Behm says, is, "Should people increase their range of motion? Should people have better flexibility? And that is yes, because it helps prevent injuries. It helps with health. But you don’t have to stretch to achieve that."

Resistance training, for instance, can be an effective form of stretching, he said. Doing a chest press increases range of motion in your deltoids and pecs, whether with barbells, dumbbells or machines, so there is no need to stretch beforehand. Just make sure to start with a small amount of weight to warm up and then add more to train.

"You probably don’t have to do extra stretching unless you’re a gymnast, a figure skater, or even a golfer who needs a great range of motion through that swing," Behm said.

Nor do you need to stretch first if you’re going for a leisurely run. Simply start with a slow jog to warm up and then increase the pace.

Don't do it if it hurts

After exercise, "light stretching is OK, as long as you don't reach a point where you're feeling pain," Behm said. Since your muscles will be warm by that point, overdoing it makes you more likely to injure yourself.

Foam rollers can help with muscle recovery and have been shown to increase range of motion as well as stretching.

Do some static stretching before sports

If you’re playing a sport, Behm said, static stretching beforehand helps reduce muscle and tendon injury.

"If you’re going to do an explosive movement, change of direction, agility, sprint, any of these explosive activities that involve your muscles and tendons," he said, "you’re going to be stronger if you do static stretching."

People can especially get in trouble when they go back to a sport they used to play, whether it's tennis, surfing or any sort of team activity.

Also, stretch both sides equally. Lacking flexibility on one side also can lead to injury.

Sounds simple. Why all the confusion? Different studies over the years have either encouraged or discouraged stretching before exercise. Behm says that partly because some studies didn't reflect real-life conditions, or were designed with elite athletes in mind, not regular people.

"If you’re Usain Bolt, it makes a difference," said Behm. Not so much for the rest of us.