The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday approved a Covid-19 vaccine developed against the Omicron variant by the Pfizer-BioNTech alliance and the US company Moderna, AFP and Reuters reported, citing Agerpres.

The vaccines “target the Omicron BA.1 subvariant in addition to the original strain of the novel coronavirus,” EMA, the agency headquartered in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, said in a statement.

European Union countries are preparing for a new vaccination campaign ahead of an expected increase in the number of infections caused by the new coronavirus this winter.

The new bivalent vaccines have been adapted to fight the BA.1 Omicron subvariant and the original SARS-CoV-2 virus variant first identified in China in late 2019.

The EMA recommends the use of these bivalent vaccines, developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, as booster doses for everyone over the age of 12 who has already received a primary vaccination against Covid-19. These vaccines are adapted versions of the original Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech) and Spikevax (Moderna) vaccines.

According to Reuters, the final decision on the distribution of these vaccines rests with the European Commission, which usually respects the EMA’s recommendations and makes them very quickly after they are formulated.

In August, the UK became the first country in the world to authorize a bivalent vaccine developed by Moderna. Switzerland and Australia followed suit soon after.

The decision, announced by the EMA on Thursday, came a day after a booster adapted by Pfizer to target Omicron’s current dominant sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5, alongside the original strain of the coronavirus, had already been sent for evaluation by the EMA. transfer of the bivalent booster from Moderna is inevitable.

The EMA will announce its decision on vaccines adapted against the BA.4 and BA.5 variants in the coming weeks, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved a new version of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and Moderna that specifically targets the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants.

Mild side effects

EU countries are still using the same vaccines against the new coronavirus that were approved two years ago for use against the original variant of the new coronavirus, AFP reminds.

They offer some protection against Omicron and its sub-variants, which are less dangerous but more contagious than the original strain, but humanity is now waiting for more targeted and effective vaccines, fearing a new wave of the pandemic this winter.

The Omicron and its sub-variants were dominant throughout 2022, quickly replacing the earlier Alpha and Delta variants.

Subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are responsible for the new wave of Covid-19 cases recorded in recent months in Europe and the US.

All variants of Omicron tend to cause a more benign evolution of the disease, as it deposits less in the lungs and more in the upper nasal passages, causing symptoms such as fever, fatigue and loss of smell.

The EMA said its evaluation of the vaccines adapted by Pfizer and Moderna focused on data provided by laboratory studies and tests on the immune response against the original strain of the new coronavirus and against the Omicron variant.

“The side effects observed with the adapted vaccines are comparable to those observed with the original vaccines and are generally mild and short-lived,” EMA representatives emphasized.