The European Medicines Agency calls for caution despite the improvement of the sixth wave
The European Medicines Agency (EMA, for its acronym in English) has indicated that, for the time being, the necessary clinical tests do not exist that support the administration of a fourth dose of the vaccine against him coronavirus in older than 70 and 80 years.
Despite the fact that in some European countries this second booster dose is already being given, Marco Cavaleryhead of the Strategy for Biological Health Threats and Vaccines at the EMA, has justified that for the European Medicines Agency to issue a recommendation in this regard, it will be necessary to wait to see sufficient clinical evidence.
In any case, Cavaleri explained that the agency “will continue to examine all the available data”, thus leaving the door open to the fourth dose if the scientific evidence ends up being given.
Third dose in adolescents
As for the third injection of the Pfizer vaccine in adolescents over 12 years of age, the head of the EMA has reported that the data provided by Israel in this age group is positive: no “new safety problems” have been identified in a sample of almost 400,000 adolescents.
Likewise, he highlighted that the booster dose of modern “can be administered as soon as three months after primary vaccination if required”.
About the new vaccines
On the other hand, Cavaleri has announced that an effective vaccine against the subvariant omicron BA.2: “In the coming weeks, progress could be made towards submitting a marketing authorization application for ‘evusheld‘”.
In addition, in relation to the deployment of the vaccine against covid-19 of Novavax that is already reaching the countries of the European Union, Cavaleri has highlighted that “preliminary data show that the immune response after primary vaccination achieves omicron neutralization“, despite the fact that he emphasizes that his immunity is “less for other variants”.
Call for caution despite the improvement
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Finally, the EMA director has warned that, despite the fact that the omicron wave “seems to lose some strength” in Europe, we must remain cautious, since this variant is “highly transmissible” and others may still arise. subvariants.
“It is clear that people who do not get vaccinated suffer the harshest consequences of covid-19. We encourage all EU citizens to get vaccinated or, if eligible, get a booster shot without further delay,” he insisted.