European Union health agencies this morning recommended a second COVID-19 booster for everyone above 60 amid a new rise in infections and hospitalisations across Europe. While the existing coronavirus vaccines continue to provide good protection against hospitalisation and death, vaccine effectiveness has taken a hit as the virus has evolved.
"It is crucial that everyone above 60 and all vulnerable persons come forth for a second booster dose as quickly as possible," EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a statement. EU health agencies have since April recommended a second booster only for those older than 80 and the most vulnerable.
The new recommendation is expected to facilitate national decisions to speed up vaccination campaigns, which have been slowing to nearly a halt in recent months. "We are currently seeing increasing COVID-19 case notification rates and an increasing trend in hospital and ICU admissions and occupancy in several countries mainly driven by the BA 5 sublineage of Omicron," said Dr Andrea Ammon, the director of ECDC, in a statement.
Vaccine makers, such as Moderna Inc and partners Pfizer Inc and BioNTech have been testing versions of their vaccines modified to combat the BA.1 Omicron variant.
Although they have said those vaccines generated a good immune response against BA.1 and the more recently circulating variants, they did see a lower response against BA.4 and BA.5.
The EMA, which is currently reviewing two variant-adapted vaccines, expects to have the first next-gen vaccines approved by September.
"In the meantime, it is important to consider using currently authorised vaccines as second boosters in people who are most vulnerable," said Emir Cooke, European Medicines Agency executive director.
7 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Wish I was a secret billionaire! Maybe I am but it’s so secret I don’t even know it. OMG! it’s obviously a monstrous global conspiracy to keep genuine billionaires (like me) ignorant of their obscene wealth and to force them to….work!
It seems those secret billionaires who secretly run the world have outsmarted us again, with yet another secret conspiracy to give people useless jabs for no particular reason. You should feel lucky that you're the only people on the planet who know about it. Apparently, it's so secret, that even the hundreds of millions of co-conspirators don't know anything about it. That's some incredible work.
Back in April my friend who is not jabed picked me up at Palma airport on a Saturday evening, by Tuesday I was not feeling too good, (here we wear masks , not in UK), due to meeting another friend, I did a test and tested positive, I notified the friend who picked me up at the airport, she went and also tested positive. Both of us are over 70, I am 3 x jabbed, and my discomfort lasted 4 days, hers 1 day, my testing positive was for 12 more days, hers 6. From personal experience I feel most of what we have been told and directed is total rubbish, getting covid is not fun, nor is flu, and the number of cancer patients who were not diagnosed because covid was the killer, I hope the doctors take a good look inwardly at how they were allowed to be hyped up by politicians and media.
I'll keep being a so called conspiracy theorist as they have been right about everything every step of the way
The statistics clearly show that if you've been vaccinated you stand a greater chance of passing the virus onto me. Stay away from me, lock yourselves down and let me get on with my life. You're nothing more than infiltrators into the human race bent on the destruction of human rights, go live in Canada and subjugate to the power crazed trudeau. Surely he is your hero. Or...the new zealand woman who clearly supports a two tier society. These oligarchs clearly have overestimated their power, not enough have 'died solely of covid' for them to consumate their masterplan. Call me a conspiracy theorist, as you did those who said the initial efficacy of the vaccine was BS. Covid is a fools game , it will all come out in the wash in the end. Please don't compare the covid 'vaccine' to the polio vaccine the polio vaccine actually was very successfull.
What about the BS variant? Is the latest 'booster' effective against this...like the 95% efficacy promised by Pfizer from their first jab? Never been jabbed, had covid along with many I know. I've yet to hear of any of my friends and those they know ending up in hospital or dead. It's all really wierd, the governments stats don't match the figures that we're experiencing. Read the posts of the conspiracy theorists from 2 yrs ago. By the way don't forget to read the Pfizer 'papers' , thank god they are in control of the health of the world...sorry for missing you out moderna. If you want to take a proven useless booster go ahead but don't you ever try to force me to have even one jab. Djorovic is the man of principle, thank god for people like him.
Never in a million years. Haven't had the 1st. And after what we now know about the endless side effects, sudden adult death syndrome, strokes, heart attacks. No thank you. Keep your toxic Pfizer. I know of 6 friends and family who are now suffering after that experimental vaccine. They can't work now, 1 of them had a massive stroke at 52, it's disgusting. I still know if nobody who died of COVID, not with COVID. Your insane to put this stuff inside you.