The European Union's drugs regulator said on Monday people with weakened immune systems should get a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, but left it to member states to decide if the wider population should get a booster.
Ludwig Burger and Yadarisa Shabong -The European Union's drugs regulator said on Monday people with weakened immune systems should get a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, but left it to member states to decide if the wider population should have a booster.
The EMA said people with a severely weakened immune system should be given a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines - both based on so-called mRNA technology - at least 28 days after their second one. The EMA also said a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine could be considered for adults with normal immune systems around six months after the second dose, but added that was up to individual countries.
He added the EMA’s broad go-ahead could lead to a further fragmentation of national decisions on the use of boosters, but more data was needed for the regulator to justify a more specific verdict.