European Medicines Agency forecasts September to see new Covid-19 booster vaccines

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) have estimated that September will likely see new Covid-19 booster vaccines following an increase in cases, as reported on Friday, July 8.

The European Medicines Agency spoke of new Covid-19 booster vaccines in after warning on Thursday, July 7, that many European Union (EU) countries are facing a “new wave of cases” of covid-19 due to the high transmissibility of omicron subvariants.

Marco Cavaleri, head of Vaccine Strategy at the EMA, spoke in a virtual press conference, stating that to face this new wave “we are in a much better position than in previous covid-19 waves, given the higher proportion of people vaccinated in the EU”, as these injections “work” to prevent severe cases of the disease.

He also added that clinical trials of the RNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) tailored to the new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19, have shown that these tailored doses “can increase and extend protection when used as a booster”.

“Bivalent mRNA vaccines that combine two strains of SARS-CoV-2, one of which is an omicron, appear to provide an even broader immune response,” he stated

In June, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) began reviewing available data on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines updated to specific variants of the virus, initiating a real-time review process, but it does not yet have all the full data on these preparations.

The EMA have estimated that these new vaccines could be approved by September.

“We need to carefully review all emerging clinical and non-clinical data to better understand what impact changes in vaccine composition have on clinical performance,” Cavaleri stated.

The EMA also reminded of its previous recommendations on getting vaccinated, stating:

“We maintain our April recommendation: people over 80 years of age should receive a second booster dose with one of the vaccines already licensed in the EU against covid-19.”

The news follows the CDC’s public comment appeal for foreigners’ and travellers’ Covid-19 vaccine requirements for entry to the US sparking outrage, as reported on Friday, July 8.

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