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World / Europe

EU regulator backs using Pfizer COVID shot as booster after other vaccines

Published: 22 Apr 2022 - 05:50 pm | Last Updated: 22 Apr 2022 - 05:51 pm
The exterior of the European Medicines Agency is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, December 18, 2020. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

The exterior of the European Medicines Agency is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, December 18, 2020. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

Reuters

A European Medicines Agency committee on Friday recommended approving the use of Pfizer and BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, as a booster for adults who have previously been inoculated with other vaccines.

The recommendation from Europe's drug regulator comes days after global COVID-19 cases surpassed 500 million, according to a Reuters tally, as the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron surges in many countries.

Some European countries are now seeing a slower uptick in new cases, or even a decline, but the region is still reporting over 1 million cases about every two days, according to the Reuters tally published on Thursday.

In the United States, Comirnaty has already been authorised as a booster following two shots of any other type of vaccine.

Last week, Pfizer and BioNtech showed that three doses of their shot produced significant protection against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in healthy children aged five to 11.