The European Commission has reserved with the American biotech company Moderna an additional 15 million doses of the new version of its anti-Covid vaccine, modified in particular according to the Omicron variant, it announced on Tuesday.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the sector’s regulator, announced in mid-June that it had begun examining this new version, aimed at both the original strain of SARS CoV-2 and the Omicron variant, including sub-variants. recently to an increase in infections.
However, the agreement reached by the Commission remains subject to the green light from European regulators, “subject to marketing authorization (in the EU) within the period that would allow the use of these doses for vaccination” this fall and winter. , according to a press release.
460 million doses since the start of the pandemic
These 15 million are part of the global order of 460 million doses that the Commission has made to Moderna, on behalf of the Twenty-seven, since the start of the pandemic. The lab uses messenger RNA technology.
At the beginning of June, the European executive announced that it had reached an agreement with the New York biotech company so that “part” of the doses whose delivery was scheduled for the second quarter could be delivered only as of September, in the form of booster vaccines adapted to variants of SARS CoV-2, including Omicron.
Brussels announced on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with Moderna to adjust the calendar again, this time postponing to September and during the fall and then the winter the supply of doses whose delivery was initially scheduled for this summer.
This is “to better respond to the needs of the Member States” this autumn and winter, “when they are more likely to need additional reserves for their national (vaccination) campaigns and the fulfillment of their international solidarity commitments,” the Commission explained. .
“The agreement also guarantees that, if one or more adapted vaccines (to the variants) receive a marketing authorization, member states can choose to receive these adapted vaccines under the current contract”, specifies the European executive.
Source: BFM TV
