So far, Stiko has hesitated to expand its recommendation for the second corona booster – that has now changed. Meanwhile, the EU medicines agency is testing a new corona vaccine: Skycovion.
The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) now officially recommends a second corona booster vaccination for people over 60 years of age. People in this age group and over the age of five with an increased risk of severe Covid 19 courses as a result of an underlying disease should receive another booster, the committee said in a statement.
The Stiko is expanding its previous recommendation “with the primary goal of protecting particularly vulnerable people even better from severe Covid 19 diseases and Covid 19-related deaths”.
The further booster, preferably with an mRNA vaccine, is advisable after “three immunological events” – for example after primary immunization and the first booster vaccination or primary immunization and Sars-CoV-2 infection. The condition for the second booster vaccination from the age of 60 is usually that the first booster vaccination or the last corona infection was at least six months ago. According to Stiko, the interval can only be reduced to four months in justified individual cases.
So far, Stiko had already recommended the second booster to the following groups: people over the age of 70, people in care facilities, people with immunodeficiency and people at increased risk of severe Covid 19 courses from the age of five, as well as employees in medical facilities and care facilities.
The committee now emphasized that a second booster vaccination in the extended group “continues to achieve a very high level of protection against severe Covid 19 courses” for these people. The risk groups mentioned should therefore not wait for a vaccine adapted to the omicron variant and postpone vaccination, it said.
Lauterbach welcomes Stiko recommendation
The “Bild” newspaper had already reported on Monday that the recommendation for the second booster for people over 60 should be expanded. Now the Stiko officially followed previous calls from the EU authorities ECDC and EMA that the member states should offer second boosters from the age of 60. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had also repeatedly discussed a second booster for broader sections of the population.
Lauterbach now told the “t-online” news portal that he was glad that Stiko had taken this important step, which he felt was due. “I strongly advise citizens over 60 to follow the Stiko’s advice and not wait for the new vaccines.” The number of cases and deaths is still too high. However, the vaccines available in Germany reliably protected against death and serious illness.
The new recommendation also explicitly states that healthy people under the age of 60 are not advised to take a booster for the time being. “According to the current state of knowledge, this group of people would not benefit significantly from another vaccine dose.” An exception is the staff in medical and nursing facilities, for which the second booster is already recommended.
No further booster vaccination is recommended for people who have already had four “immunological events” at a certain distance. In the case of those who are particularly at risk, such as the very old, it can be decided individually whether a further dose of vaccine can make sense because of a declining performance of the immune system.
Stiko also for Ice Natz by Novavax
In the updated Stiko recommendation, the committee also advocates the use of Novavax’s protein vaccine for primary immunization for young people aged 12 and over – previously it was only recommended from the age of 18.
In addition to vaccination, Stiko now recommends the antibody preparation Evusheld as a preventive measure for particularly vulnerable groups aged 12 and over. These include people with immunodeficiency, “in whom the absence of a protective immune response is to be expected even after several vaccine doses”. The recommendation applies to people who, for certain reasons, cannot be vaccinated against Covid-19 and who also have risk factors for a severe course of the disease. Evusheld consists of two Sars-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies and can be injected into the muscle.
WHO vaccination advice now for second corona booster at an older age
Meanwhile, the independent World Health Organization (WHO) Vaccination Council has recommended for the first time the administration of a second corona booster vaccination for older people. The head of the council (Sage), Alejandro Cravioto, stressed on Thursday in Geneva that this does not mean a recommendation for a regular refresher every four to six months.
The Vaccination Council left the exact age group open in its recommendation. Each country must decide for itself at what age it wants to offer second booster vaccinations. Ideally, they should be administered four to six months after the first booster vaccination. In addition, the vaccination council recommends second boosters for health workers of all ages and people with a weakened immune system or other diseases that increase the risk of serious illness after a corona infection.
EU medicines agency is testing new corona vaccine Skycovion
The South Korean company SK Bioscience has developed a new corona vaccine. The EU medicines authority EMA has already started the test procedure. The vaccine is called Skycovion. The EMA announced in Amsterdam that an application for approval had been submitted. The company has presented data on its effectiveness against the corona virus as well as on safety and quality.
The EMA experts are now examining the data and will then decide on a recommendation for conditional market approval. After a positive recommendation from the EMA, the EU Commission still has to agree – but that is considered a formality.
According to the EMA, the vaccine contains tiny particles of the virus’s spike protein. After the vaccination, the body should recognize these proteins as foreign bodies and produce antibodies and T cells. In the event of an infection with the corona virus, the immune system should recognize the spike proteins and fight the virus. It is unclear to what extent this vaccine also protects against the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Six vaccines against the coronavirus are currently approved in the EU. Two of these preparations were also adapted to variants of the virus. However, the EMA experts are still checking the data for these adapted preparations. It is still unclear when the decision will be made.
Source: Stern
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