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The European Medicines Agency, EMA, and the European Commission approved this Monday the Covid-19 booster vaccines that combat the subvariants of Ómicron BA.4 and BA.5. Those over 12 years of age who already have the complete vaccination schedule will be able to access this new serum that seeks to fight against the wave expected for winter.
The Covid-19 vaccine booster was endorsed by the European Medicines Agency, EMA, which recommends using it to combat the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants currently circulating in the world.
For the EMA, the latest vaccine developed by the Pfizer and BioNTech laboratory can be injected into those over 12 years of age who have received full vaccination against the virus, that is, the initial schedule of two vaccines in the case of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna , AstraZeneca or the single dose like Janssen.
This Monday, Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, announced that the booster vaccine is already approved by the European Union.
Additionally, the Agency said this approval will further expand the arsenal of vaccines available to protect people against Covid-19 as the pandemic continues and new waves of infections are anticipated in the cold season.
Pfizer announced that the drug will arrive as soon as possible in the states of the bloc.
The European Union seeks to continue protecting its citizens from the virus
At the beginning of September, the EMA had approved not only the Pfizer vaccines but also those of the Moderna pharmaceutical company.
The EMA had said it was initially interested in drugs that worked against the BA.1 variant of the virus. Its US counterpart, the US Food and Drug Administration, FDA, said it was interested in vaccines targeting BA.4/5.
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna obtained their authorization in the United States despite the limited clinical data available.
This vaccine has been tested mainly in the laboratory and on animals, the same procedure that is used for flu vaccines that are renewed every year, but the EMA said it was approving it due to the human clinical trials that are available for BA .1.
Human results from Pfizer-BioNTech for BA.4 and BA.5 will be out towards the end of the year while those from Moderna are expected in late September.
“We know that Covid-19 is still a threat. That is why we have just authorized the booster dose of BioNTech and Pfizer against the current variants,” said Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, who added that “vaccination is still It is the best way to protect yourself against Covid-19.”
The European Union has a new challenge due in part to the acceptance of the boosters, since most citizens have lost concern about the disease thanks to the success of the initial vaccines.
Current vaccines against Covid-19, although they provide strong protection against hospitalization and death, lose some effectiveness with respect to infection, since their effect is reduced over time and with the evolution of the virus.
with EFE
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