European regulator authorizes Pfizer vaccine against Omicron subvariants | Coronavirus
Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency on Monday targets Omicron's BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
L' The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday approved a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine targeting the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sublines, for a booster campaign this winter to ward off anticipated new waves.
The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended licensing a suitable bivalent vaccine targeting Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, in addition to the strain initial outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, the EMA said in a statement.
The serum should, according to the EMA, be more effective than Comirnaty in triggering a immune response against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which are milder but more easily transmitted.
The vaccine, an adapted version of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 Comirnaty mRNA vaccine, is intended for people aged 12 and over who have received at least a first vaccination against COVID-19, the official said. ;EMA.
As new waves of infections are anticipated during the cold season, this recommendation will further expand the arsenal of vaccines available to protect people against COVID-19 within the European Union, European regulator hailed.
CHMP opinion on Comirnaty Original-Omicron BA.4-5 now goes be sent to the European Commission, which will take a final decision.
The green light from the EMA closely follows the approval earlier this month of two more vaccines adapted by Pfizer and rival Moderna, which target the original COVID-19 strain and the earlier BA.1 subvariant of Omicron.
With the Original-Om adapted vaccine icron BA.1 recently authorized, this new adapted vaccine should help maintain optimal protection against COVID-19 as the virus evolves, according to the EMA.
