European Union regulators have warned that repeated COVID-19 booster vaccines could negatively affect the immune system and might not be feasible.
Repeating booster doses every four months could eventually weaken the immune system and tire people out, according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA, for its acronym in English).
Instead, countries should allow more time between booster programs and link them with the onset of the cold season in each hemisphere, following the plan established by influenza vaccination strategies, the agency said.
The advice comes as some countries consider offering people a second booster dose to provide greater protection against increased omicron infections.
Earlier this month, Israel became the first nation to begin giving a second booster, or fourth vaccine, to people over the age of 60. The UK has said that boosters provide good levels of protection and that there is no need for a second booster shot at this time, but will review the data as it evolves.
The reinforcements “they can be applied once, or maybe twice, but it is not something we can think of that needs to be repeated constantly“, He said Marco Cavaleri, chief of vaccine strategy and biological threats to health, at a press conference Tuesday. “We need to think about how we can transition from the current pandemic environment to a more endemic environment. “
The European Union regulator also said at the briefing that oral and intravenous antivirals, such as Paxlovid and Remdesivir, remain effective against omicron.
The agency said April is the earliest it could approve a new vaccine targeting a specific variant, as the process takes between three and four months.
Some of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers have said they are looking to produce vaccines that can target new variants.
