EU regulator says adapted COVID shots could be used for initial vaccination
Manjurul


The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced Tuesday that its advisory body Emergency Task Force (ETF) concluded messenger RNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, targeting the original strain and Omicron BA.4/ BA.5 subvariants, may be used for initial vaccinations.
So far, the regulators in the U.S. and EU have authorized these bivalent vaccines developed by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) only as booster shots.

ETF has reached its conclusion, noting that primary vaccination with these updated shots should generate a âbroad immune responseâ in unvaccinated or those who havenât been previously exposed to COVID-19.
ETF has also noted that bivalent shots, when used as boosters, had a similar safety profile to those in original mRNA vaccines.
âBased on these considerations, national authorities may decide to use these adapted bivalent vaccines for primary vaccination in their national vaccination campaigns, should it become necessary,â EMA said.
Read: In October, Pfizer (PFE) disclosed its plans to nearly quadruple the price for the COVID shot it co-developed with BioNTech (BNTX), sending the shares of rival vaccine makers higher.