EU regulator backs Pfizer's BA.4/5-adapted COVID booster

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday recommended a COVID-19 booster designed to combat Omicron offshoots BA.4/5, days after endorsing a pair of boosters tailored to target the older BA.1 variant. The latest recommendation is for a so-called bivalent vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which targets BA.4/5 as well as the strain of the virus that originally emerged in China in December 2019.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday recommended a COVID-19 booster designed to combat Omicron offshoots BA.4/5, days after endorsing a pair of boosters tailored to target the older BA.1 variant.

The latest recommendation is for a so-called bivalent vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which targets BA.4/5 as well as the strain of the virus that originally emerged in China in December 2019. While existing coronavirus vaccines provide good protection against hospitalization and death, their effectiveness was reduced as the virus evolved.

Earlier this month, the EMA endorsed both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's BA.1 updated vaccines. EU officials signaled in recent months they were open to initially using shots targeting the older BA.1 variant, given those specifically targeting newer Omicron offshoots BA.4/5 are further behind in development.

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