Article author:
Reuters
Coronavirus Omicron mutant vaccines When used as a booster, defenses can be improved, the European Medicines Agency and other global health regulators said on Friday.
After Thursday's meeting, EMA agrees on key principles for global regulators to update COVID-19 shots to accommodate new variants. I said I did.
While existing coronavirus vaccines continue to provide excellent protection against hospitalization and death, the group said the vaccine's effectiveness was undermined as the virus evolved.
Thus, omicron-specific or bivalent boosters (meaning vaccines containing both the new strain and the original coronavirus strain) may "increase and prolong" defense. , The EMA statement said.
This statement specifically refers to the mRNA vaccine. Both Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc are testing modified versions of the vaccine to include the Omicron variant.
If clinical trial data show adequate levels of neutralization for Omicron and other variant of concern, other variants, such as beta variants, may be used. Vaccines that include it can also be considered for use as booster immunity. The statement said.
Following guidance from the World Health Organization, Omicron-specific boosters may restore protection against new strains of coronavirus.
However, it goes beyond the position of the US regulatory agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and said it would require specific inclusion of the new BA.4 and BA on Thursday. Five strains of Omicron are now new shots for domestic use, causing a surge in new infections around the world.
On Tuesday, the chairman of the WHO Advisory Board, who reviewed the modified shots, said the group prefers BA.1-based boosters, and the variant is clearer. , A wider response than the recently circulating subvariants.
In an interview with US FDA chief executive Peter Markes, regulators in other countries used a new booster based on the BA.1 Omicron variant that caused a massive surge last winter. He said he was seriously considering. Available sooner than the BA.4 / 5 based booster that the US plans to use.
EMA said it will provide more details in the coming days.
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