Ema: “Delta variant worries, safe and effective vaccine mix”

The Delta variant in late August will account for 90% of coronavirus cases in the EU. The mix of vaccines comes across as safe and effective. The European Medicines Agency (Ema) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Ecdc), in a joint note, recall that “the Delta variant” of Sars-CoV-2 “is spreading rapidly in Europe and worries because it could hamper efforts to control the pandemic. According to the Ema-Ecdc document, the Delta variant “is 40% to 60% more transmissible than the previous Alpha variant and may be associated with a higher risk of hospitalization”. The ECDC estimates “that by the end of August the Delta variant will represent 90% of all Sars-CoV-2 viruses circulating in the EU”. For this reason “it is essential for countries to speed up vaccination programs, including the administration of second doses where recommended, and to fill the population’s immune gaps as soon as possible”. On the so-called heterologous vaccination strategy (or mix of vaccines) in the vaccination campaign against Covid-19, applied in some countries, “there is a good scientific basis for expecting it to be a safe and effective strategy. The use of a vaccination strategy. heterologous can allow a faster protection of the population and a better use of the available vaccine stocks “, add the experts. Currently, the EMA and the ECDC are not able to formulate definitive recommendations on the use of different Covid-19 vaccines for the two doses “. However, they recall, “the preliminary results of studies in Spain, Germany and the UK suggest a satisfactory immune response and no safety concerns.” On the hypothesis of a third dose of Covid vaccine after completing the vaccination course, “al moment is too early to confirm if and when it will be necessary. There is still not enough data from vaccination campaigns and ongoing studies to understand how long vaccine protection will last, also considering the spread of variants “, remark the experts.” Any new evidence that will become available on this topic will be rapidly examined – ensure Ema and Ecdc – The data on the efficacy coming from the ‘real life’ studies from Europe and other parts of the world are of particular interest to integrate the data of the studies clinicians investigating booster doses “.