EU medical chiefs to grant ‘game-changer’ vaccine the go-ahead

THE EU medicine regulators have set a date to discuss approving the ‘game-changer’ Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine – however, it is more than two weeks away, on January 29.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has already given the go-ahead for vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna to be used in member states, but it has only now received an application for conditional marketing authorisat i on f r om t he makers of Oxford/AstraZeneca.

In a statement yesterday, the EMA said it would make its evaluation faster than usual because it has been conducting a rolling review of the vaccine’s data.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the news was ‘very positive’.

The Oxford/ Astr a Zeneca vaccine has been hailed as a ‘game- changer’ i n the f i ght against Covid-19 by HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid.

The EU has advanced purchased 400million doses, of which Ireland will be entitled to 1.1%, on a pro-rata basis, meaning we could potentially receive 44million doses.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored in normal refrigerated settings between 2C and 8C for six months and can be administered in existing healthcare settings so it is suited for mass vaccination centres. Like the other two vaccines, it is a two-dose regimen.

If the EMA approves it, the European Commission will fasttrack its process to grant authorisation for use. It has already been rolled out in the UK.

Meanwhile, the first shipment of the Moderna vaccine arrived in Ireland yesterday.

All this comes as the HSE began its first vaccine sweep of nursing home residents and staff. It is expected that the entire population of nursing home residents and staff will be fully vaccinated by the middle of February.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the aim is to have 700,000 people vaccinated by the end of March.

The chairwoman of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC), Professor Karina Butler, has suggested that people who have recently been infected with Covid-19 may be asked to postpone their jab for six months, as they may have immunity for that period.

However, no official change to advice has been made and official guidance states that people should be offered the vaccine regardless of recent infection.

In a statement last night, NIAC said it ‘considers all new evidence relevant to the Covid-19 vaccine as it emerges including that pertaining to durability of immunity following infection and/ or vaccination’.

Health expert Prof Sam McConkey told RTÉ Radio yesterday that the ‘jury is still out’ on how effective the natural immune response is at protecting someone in the future.

‘Final decision is two weeks away’