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A health worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center at the Hospital Confluent de Nantes, as part of the coronavirus disease vaccination campaign (COVID-19) in France, the March 18, 2021. REUTERS / Stephane Mahe
September 1 (Reuters) – The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday that there was no urgent need for booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines for fully vaccinated, citing efficacy data of the shots.
The comments follow a similar statement from the European Medicines Agency last month that more data was needed on the duration of protection after complete inoculation to recommend the use of booster shots. Read more
Evidence on real-world efficacy shows that all authorized vaccines in the region are highly protective against COVID-19-related hospitalization, serious illness, and death, the ECDC said.
But the agency said additional doses could be considered for people experiencing a limited response to the standard regimen, adding that these vaccines should be treated differently from booster doses.
Germany and France have announced that they will begin boosting vulnerable and immunocompromised people starting this month to protect citizens from the most infectious Delta variant. Read more
The U.S. government has also begun administering a third dose of Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) -BioNTech and Moderna Inc. (MRNA.O) vaccines to those with compromised immunity. Read more
It plans to offer a wider dose of reinforcement from September 20 if the country’s health regulators deem it necessary. Read more
Reports from Manojna Maddipatla to Bengaluru; Edited by Aditya Soni
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