EU countries urged to consider a fourth COVID-19 vaccine if needed
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European Union health ministers were told on Friday to prepare for a rollout of a fourth COVID-19 shot as soon as data are available to support the move, Reuters reports.
"If we see data which is conclusive on whether a fourth dose is needed, we need to be ready to act," EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told health ministers of the 27-member bloc in a video conference.

However, after the conference, Kyriakides tweeted that the priority should be given to immunize the unvaccinated, which makes up about a quarter of the EU population.
The urgency for a fourth shot comes as the region faces a resurgence of COVID-19 driven by the Omicron variant. While it was reasonable to consider an additional booster for people with weaker immune systems, more data was needed to support the deployment, the EU drug regulator said this week.
However, early this week, an early study conducted in Israel suggested that Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) COVID-19 vaccines were not adequately protective as a fourth shot against the Omicron variant.