(Bloomberg) — The European Union’s drugs regulator is ready to “take rapid action” to review and approve Covid-19 vaccines if they need to be tweaked to address the new omicron variant, as the pandemic continues battering the bloc.
“It’s too early to say whether the vaccine composition will need to be changed,” Marco Cavaleri, the head of vaccine strategy at the European Medicines Agency, said at a briefing Thursday. Similarly, it’s unclear to what extent the highly mutated omicron strain is replacing delta as the dominant variant in the region, he said.
Omicron has cropped up around the globe since it was first identified in South Africa two weeks ago, raising concern that it may kindle another harrowing pandemic wave. But a jump in cases in the wake of the variant’s emergence hasn’t yet overwhelmed hospitals there, leading to some optimism that it may only cause mostly mild illness. Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE also said this week that a booster dose of their vaccine appears to fortify protection against the strain.
The EMA on Tuesday endorsed mixing two different Covid-19 shots for initial vaccine schedules and boosters, saying hybrid approaches can increase governments’ flexibility in responding to omicron.
The agency may approve Novavax Inc.’s vaccine before the end of the year, according to Cavaleri.
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