Covid-19 and variants: new vaccines are being studied

While Covid-19 contaminations remain stable overall, experts are predicting an 8th wave for this winter. To adopt a more effective vaccine strategy, health authorities are currently working on the development of vaccines targeting subvariants of Omicron, in addition to the original strain of Covid-19.

The High Authority for Health (HAS) is thus studying these new bivalent vaccines with the aim of delivering its overall opinion. However, we will have to wait until mid-September to obtain these results and to be able to anticipate the upcoming vaccination campaign.

On September 1, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had already authorized the messenger RNA vaccines developed by Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna targeting the BA.1 subvariant of Omicron. Thus, it is these vaccines that have been studied by the High Authority for Health with a view to integrating them into the vaccine strategy.

But at the same time, the EMA has accelerated its assessment of bivalent vaccines adapted to the BA.5 variant. This “leads the HAS to wait for these other bivalent vaccines to update the vaccine strategy and position in the same opinion all the vaccines that may be useful and available for the vaccination campaign in the fall”, explains the press release.

Thus, in mid-September, HAS will publish its opinion on all three Omicron variants, in addition to the original strain. But as the instance reminds us in the press release, “people at risk of a severe form of Covid-19 whose first recall is old should not wait to issue a new recall.”