Omicron vaccines as booster doses / Recommendation for the vulnerable population / People over 60 and people with pre-existing conditions / Long-term care facilities and healthcare workers

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) now published a recommendation for the vaccination of the newly approved Omicron booster vaccines.
"Although the bivalent booster vaccines are approved for all persons above 12 years, the EMA recommends first protecting the vulnerable population with a higher risk for a severe disease course. I consider this recommendation to be very comprehensible. The EMA's recommendation is not binding for the member states. Still, I hope that the national authorities in member states will quickly come to similar recommendations," said the health policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats), Peter Liese.

The published recommendation for vaccination includes people over 60, immunocompromised people and people with pre-existing conditions, and pregnant women. Healthcare workers, especially staff as well as residents of care facilities, should also be included in the vaccination strategies.

"Our main focus must be on the people in risk groups whose last vaccination or infection is older than six months. The minimum interval between the last vaccination and the booster should be three months, better even four months, but in individual cases, it should always be discussed with the responsible physician," explained the MEP.