“There is no answer yet to the question of whether the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which is spreading in the US and Europe, requires a vaccine adapted to it,” the director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said today.
“Let me insist that there is still no answer to the question of whether we will need a custom vaccine, with a different composition, to fight this variant or any other,” Emer Cook told a news conference.
“We need more data on the impact of variation on the effectiveness of approved vaccines, as well as to gather additional evidence” on the effect of current vaccines in preventing more or less severe forms of the disease, as well as hospitalizations and deaths, he added.
Cook stressed, however, that with five vaccines and six drugs against Covid-19, “we are in a much more stable position than last year.”
“We have a lot of extra tools at our disposal,” he added, as the European Union approved Monday the use of a fifth vaccine against Covid, the US-based Novavax, following a green light from the EMA.
The new coronavirus variant is spreading rapidly in the US, where it is now predominant, as well as in Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
.
