The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday urged to “accelerate” the vaccination of groups vulnerable to covid-19, especially those over 60, due to the threat of the delta variant, although it noted that vaccines authorized in the European Union (EU) “appear to protect” against emerging strains.
In a virtual press conference from Amsterdam, the director of Vaccine Strategy, Marco Cavaleri, noted that “the first real-world data suggest that the two doses of vaccines (available in the EU) protect against the delta variant” and that “antibodies from authorized preparations are capable of neutralizing this variant.”
“We are aware of concerns about the rapid spread of the delta variant and other variants. At the moment, it seems that all vaccines approved in the EU (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen) protect against all strains that are circulating in Europe,” he insisted.
“Accelerating vaccination and maintaining public health measures remain very important tools to combat COVID-19. It is paramount to ensure that vulnerable and elderly people complete their vaccination cycle as soon as possible to protect them from further spread of the delta variant,” Cavaleri warned.
Still no conclusions about heterologous vaccination
Regarding the combination of two different vaccines, the EMA reiterated that it is “not yet in a position to make recommendations” on this possibility, but acknowledges that the provisional results of studies done in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom “show a good immune response and no concern for the safety” of what is known as “heterologous vaccination” that “has been applied historically with other vaccines”.
EMA scientists will first review available data from clinical trials on safety and immune response in people who have received a third dose of Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca, or a second injection in the case of Janssen’s single-dose vaccine, data that “must still be collected during the summer,” he adds.
Over the next few months, different European countries will begin vaccinating minors with doses of Pfizer, the only vaccine currently backed by the EMA for use in adolescents, although the agency is currently reviewing data from clinical trials in minors with Moderna’s vaccine and expects to give its verdict “by the end of July.”
In addition, the European regulator continues to monitor the side effects of different vaccines and on Thursday urged health workers in different European countries to report any new adverse effects detected in their patients in the days after vaccination.
One of the points now being investigated by the safety committee (PRAC) is the cases of myocarditis and pericarditis detected after vaccination with preparations based on messenger RNA, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, but at the moment there is not enough data to establish “a causal relationship”, although Cavaleri expects the EMA to reach its conclusions by the end of next week.
