By Agnes Szucs
BRUSSELS (AA) – EU member states should speed up autumn vaccination campaigns because the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, an EU health commissioner said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a news conference following the informal meeting of EU health ministers in the Czech capital Prague, Stella Kyriakides said she called on EU countries to roll out autumn COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible and lead information campaigns.
“The pandemic is not over and it needs to be clearly communicated,” she stated, urging for “robust vaccination strategies” in all EU countries.
She explained that governments should send “coherent, clear messages” to their citizens to increase vaccine trust and to inform them about the new omicron-adapted vaccines from pharma companies BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna.
“Vaccination and boosting remain our strongest assets against the virus,” Kyriakides asserted.
She said the producers promised to deliver the new vaccines from September.
The new jabs are highly recommended for people age 60 or over and with underlying health conditions, she added.
Last week, the European Medicines Agency approved new, omicron-adapted versions of BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna’s jabs.
According to the EU regulator’s assessment, the new shots can trigger strong immune responses against the BA.1 subvariant and the original coronavirus in previously vaccinated people.