The European Medicines Agency (EMA) expects that the anti-covid vaccination will be carried out once a year, as is currently the case with the flu vaccination, Reuters reports.

Although the virus that causes COVID is not yet behaving like a seasonal virus involved in winter waves in temperate climates, EMA’s head of vaccination strategy Marco Cavalleri told a press briefing that “this may be the direction to go.”

Europe has seen a significant decline in new COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths – the lowest level seen in the European Union in twelve months, he said, citing data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Still, the virus continues to evolve, and an organized approach is needed to maintain vaccine diversity to provide adequate broad-based protection to new variants, he said.

The EMA is currently discussing with the World Health Organization and other regulatory bodies the criteria and process that will lead to a potential update of the vaccine for future vaccination campaigns, he added.