New variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus may emerge this winter, but existing vaccines should protect the population from severe forms of the disease, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced today.
The heads of this European agency gave a press conference on the situation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, as the European Union prepares to launch a booster vaccination campaign ahead of winter. This campaign will be done with the adapted vaccines, which the EMA approved on Thursday, and which target the now dominant Omicron variant. The first vaccines developed to treat the original strain of the virus, which was first identified in China in 2019, will also be used.
The world “shouldn’t wait for a specific vaccine,” said the EMA’s head of vaccine strategy, Marco Cavalleri. “A brand new variant could emerge, which we are not in a position to predict today,” he added.
The EMA on Thursday approved vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna targeting the Omicron BA.1 subvariant, as well as the original strain. Another Pfizer vaccine targeting Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants is expected to be approved in mid-September. The company Moderna is also preparing a similar vaccine.
These tailored vaccines will primarily target the most vulnerable population groups, such as the elderly, pregnant women and healthcare workers, Cavalleri said. Most other people will receive the initial vaccines, “which are able to protect against severe Covid-19 and death”, although they are not as effective in preventing infection, he explained.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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