European Medicines Agency and the European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control highlight considerations for additional and booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines

06/09/2021

On 2 September 2021, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published a technical report stating that, based on current evidence, there is no urgent need to administer booster doses of vaccines to fully vaccinated individuals in the general population. The report also notes that additional doses should already be considered for people with severely weakened immune systems, as part of their primary vaccination.

Evidence on vaccine effectiveness and duration of protection shows that all vaccines authorized in the EU/EEA are currently highly protective against COVID-19-related hospitalization, severe disease, and death. In the EU/EEA, approximately one in three adults over the age of 18 is not yet fully vaccinated. In this situation, the priority now should be to vaccinate all those eligible individuals who have not yet completed their recommended vaccination schedule. To complement vaccination efforts, it is also crucial to continue applying measures such as physical distancing, hand and respiratory hygiene, and using face masks where needed, in particular in high-risk settings such as long-term care facilities or hospital wards with patients at risk of severe COVID-19.


It is important to distinguish between booster doses for people with normal immune systems and additional doses for those with weakened immune systems. Some studies report that an additional vaccine dose can improve the immune response in immunocompromised individuals, such as organ transplant recipients who initially had a low response to vaccination. In such cases, the option of administering an additional dose now should be considered. Consideration could also be given to providing an additional dose, as a precautionary measure, to older frail individuals, in particular those living in closed settings such as residents of long-term care facilities.

Member States need to prepare for possible adaptations to their vaccination program should a substantial decrease in vaccine effectiveness be noted in one or more population groups.

Source: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/ecdc-ema-highlight-considerations-additional-booster-doses-covid-19vaccines

  • Share: