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The EMA warns about the low figures of memory doses in the vulnerable population
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) pointed out this Wednesday that vaccination against covid could be managed”once a year” and the best time would be “at the beginning of the cold season, when other vaccines for respiratory viruses are given.”
Likewise, the European entity has warned that the virus “still represents a significant load” for health systems in Europe, especially due to the low rate of booster doses presented by vulnerable groups.
For this reason, the agency “will continue to monitor emerging data in the coming months to determine the most appropriate criteria for the composition of the vaccines” that will be used in the future against covid, explained this Wednesday at a press conference the head of the EMA Vaccination Strategy, Marco Cavaleri.
“Although it is true that the virus does not yet behave as an endemic seasonal respiratory virus, like other endemic coronaviruses, we expect vaccination campaigns to take place mainly once a year. The best time for it will be the beginning of the cold seasonwhen other vaccines for respiratory viruses are administered ”, he pointed out.
Drop in infections
At this time, the epidemiological situation “is constantly improving” and the data shows a drop in new infections, hospitalizations and deaths, with “the lowest levels observed in the European Union (EU) in the last 12 months,” he admitted.
“But covid still places a significant burden on EU health systems. In this context, the low administration figures of booster dose in vulnerable groups, such as people over 65, it is a concern from a public health perspective (…) It is important not to let our guard down while the virus continues to evolve”, lamented Cavaleri.
the paradigm
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In his opinion, it is “reasonable” to start thinking about “the direction of the paradigm of gripenotwithstanding the uncertainties we have at this time” about the behavior of the virus, and taking into account that “repeated vaccination might not be accepted in the general population, so it would be better to consider scheduling the vaccine once a year , or perhaps synchronize it with that of other respiratory viruses.”
The EU already has vaccines for covid-19 developed by a total of eight pharmacists (Pfizer, Valneva, Novavax, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen and Sanofi Pasteur), although the EMA also keeps data from three other vaccines under continuous review: the Spanish Hipra, the Russian Sputnik, and the Chinese Vero Cell.
