Corona vaccines adapted to the Omicron variant can now also be used in the European Union. The European Medicines Agency approves vaccines from Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna. However, they are only adapted to the omicron subvariant BA.1.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved corona vaccines adapted to the omicron variant in the EU. The applications for approval for the vaccines against the omicron subtype BA.1 and the original virus strain had been submitted by the Mainz-based biotechnology company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer, as well as by the US pharmaceutical company Moderna.
The EU Commission now has to formally decide on the approval. As a spokesman for the EU Commission said, the Brussels authorities will accept the EMA’s decision very quickly. Whether this will happen on the same day remains to be seen.
In mid-August, the British Medicines Agency gave the green light for Moderna’s so-called bivalent corona vaccine, which, like the Biontech vaccine, is effective against both the original coronavirus strain and the omicron subvariant BA.1. However, the latter no longer plays a role. The currently dominant subtypes of the omicron variant are BA.4 and BA.5. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday granted emergency use authorization for two adapted vaccines by Moderna and Biontech/Pfizer targeting these subtypes.
With the vaccines now approved by the EMA, however, there is hope that they will also work better against the omicron sublines currently in circulation. With the decision of the EMA and the EU Commission, the way is clear for the continuation of the vaccination campaign in Germany. In the case of corona vaccinations, the federal government plans to start with advanced vaccines for newer virus variants at the beginning of September. Subject to the expected EU-wide approval, around 14 million doses from Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna, which are adapted to the BA.1 variant, are to come in the two weeks starting September 5th. This emerges from a letter from Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
