EU drugs watchdog calls on vaccine developers not to rule out upgrade options

The European Union's drugs regulator said vaccine developers should work on more than one upgraded COVID-19 shot and consider not only a product tailored to the fast emerging Omicron variant but also versions that address a combination of variants.

"What we are hearing also from other regulatory agencies is that is important not to exclude any options," the European Medicines Agency's Head of Vaccines Strategy, Marco Cavaleri, told a media briefing on Tuesday. "So it will be equally important to consider not only a monovalent vaccine at this point in time but maybe also bivalent vaccine or even a multivalent vaccine."