The European Medicines Agency stresses the importance of protecting a wider range of people. Cavaleri: “Possible to move as for seasonal flu”. In September also vaccines for under 5s
Hospital doctors, virologists, immunologists have been asking for this for a long time: we widen the audience of those entitled to the second booster of the anti Covid vaccine to the over 60s. Now also theEma, the European Medicines Agency suggests the same thing in light of the new wave of infections, led by the variants Omicron 4 and 5 that is affecting Europe. “People too between 60 and 79 years and medically vulnerable people of any age – says Ema – should receive a second booster dose. We are seeing a new wave in many EU countries. Diffusion is driven by the variants that Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 which are highly transmissible
and that they are expected to become dominant among the countries, replacing the other variants by the end of July ». From this epidemiological situation the decision to update the recommendations adopted in April with a joint document with the ECDC (European Center for Disease Prevention and Control). In that same text it had already been anticipated “that in the presence of a significant resurgence of infections as is happening now, even people between 60 and 79 years old and vulnerable people from a medical point of view of any age should receive the second reminder” .
What happens in Italy
At the moment in Italy the second recall it only involves the over 80s, guests of the RSA and those who have been included in the categories at risk with an age between 60 and 79 years. According to the latest available data however, less than 30% of those entitled have taken the fourth dose.
With the contagion curve rising and the high circulation of the virus, if it is true that young people do not risk much, the situation of those who are more advanced in age is different, starting from the categories at risk such as law enforcement agencies and health workers who are in constant contact with the public. Last month they are already 20,000 doctors and nurses are ill with Covid and in July it will go even worse, with the risk of leaving hospital facilities unguarded in a period not only of increasing hospitalizations but also of holidays for staff. “Anyone over 70 who received the third dose in December is in a state of strong vulnerability in front of Omicron 5. Right now, the choice of the government and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità not to allow them access to the fourth dose is inexplicable and will be responsible for the increase in hospitalizations and deaths, ”writes the immunologist Antonella Viola on the columns of La Stampa.
The new updated vaccines
By September, the EMA continues, the new vaccines will be approved on Omicron. «The European Agency – he explained Marco Cavaleri, responsible for biological health threats and vaccine strategy – wants to check their safety and the ability to stimulate the production of neutralizing antibodies ». Preliminary data from clinical trials indicate ‘that adapted mRna vaccines incorporating a strain of the Omicron variant can enhance and extend protection when used as a booster. And bivalent vaccines that combine two Sars-CoV-2 strains, one of which is Omicron and the other the original strain, appear to offer an even broader immune response. ” Cavaleri then confirmed what has been said for some time: a new anti Covid vaccine will be available every year, just as happens with the flu. “Depending on the data we receive, we may be able to move towards a picture similar to influenza vaccines, which does not require the submission of clinical data prior to approval of the annual update. Discussions among the experts are ongoing ».
Vaccine under 5
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) should give its opinion on Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines against Covid for children aged 6 months to 5 years “in early autumn” says Cavaleri. “We are already evaluating the request for Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine and we really hope to reach a conclusion very soon, we can predict that it will take place after the summer break”
July 7, 2022 (change July 7, 2022 | 19:10)
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