A new corona vaccination campaign is due in autumn. Many should then already receive the Omikron vaccine. What to expect from the vaccines?
Amsterdam – In June, the EU medicines agency EMA initiated the rapid test procedure for a corona vaccine from the manufacturers Pfizer and Biontech that was adapted to virus variants. The vaccine is intended to provide more targeted protection than conventional boosters, for example against the omicron variant of the virus, as the EMA announced in Amsterdam.
A short time later, Biontech/Pfizer announced that they had two effective vaccines against the omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5. This is reported by Spiegel Online . The first is a monovalent vaccine given as a fourth booster after three vaccinations. The bivalent coronavirus vaccine is broader: it is intended to immunize against both the wild type and omicron. According to the data, both agents triggered a much stronger immune effect than the original Biontech vaccine. The effect against the newer omicron subtypes is said to be weaker than that against omicron BA.1.
Omicron Vaccine: Moderna vaccine produces more antibodies than conventional agents
In the meantime, Moderna has also presented data that indicate an increased effectiveness of the adapted vaccine. According to dpa , the 437 subjects who had received the new preparation as a second booster had significantly more neutralizing antibodies after one month than after a booster vaccination with the conventional preparation, especially against Omikron. As the vaccine combines the original Moderna vaccine Spikevax and a new vaccine against the omicron subtype, it is a bivalent vaccine.
Corona vaccination against Omikron: Biontech and Moderna expect approval by late summer or autumn
So far, no vaccine has been approved in the EU that also targets variants of the corona virus, but both companies announced in June that they intended to submit their data to the regulatory authorities. According to the MDR, Moderna is hoping for approval in late summer. Biontech spoke of an approval by autumn at the latest. “Depending on the decision of the authorities, an adapted vaccine could be approved in August, September or autumn,” said CEO Ugur Sahin at the general meeting of the Mainz-based biotech company.
For approval, further clinical studies must show that the new agents are more effective than the vaccines currently available. Spiegel Online reports that the EMA expects the vaccine manufacturers to present the full results of their studies in the coming weeks and months. The EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) then examines them and formulates a recommendation. The European Commission must then formally decide on the approval (tk with dpa).
