Subvariant BA.5 Omicron Encourages Increase In COVID-19 Cases, European Union Supports Giving Second Booster Dose For Elderly Over 60 Years

Illustration of COVID-19 vaccination in Europe. (Wikimedia Commons/Claude Truong-Ngoc)

JAKARTA - European Union health agencies recommended giving a second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, to all elderly people over 60 and medically susceptible people Monday, amid a new increase in infections and hospitalizations across Europe.

While existing coronavirus vaccines continue to provide good protection against hospitalization and death, their effectiveness has taken a hit as the virus has progressed.

Previously, the European Union's health agency since April recommended a second booster only for those over 80 years old and the most vulnerable.

The new recommendations are expected to facilitate national decisions to speed up vaccination campaigns, which have slowed to a near halt in recent months.

"We are currently seeing an increase in the rate of notification of COVID-19 cases and an increasing trend of hospital and ICU admissions and occupancy in several countries, primarily driven by the BA.5 sublineage of Omicron (coronavirus variant)," said Andrea Ammon, director of the Center for Prevention and European Disease Control (ECDC), in a statement, reported by Reuters July 11.

"This signals the start of a new wave of COVID-19 which is spreading across the European Union," he said, adding that giving a second booster dose to people over 60 and medically vulnerable, could prevent a large number of hospitalizations and deaths.

It is known that vaccine makers such as Moderna Inc., as well as partners Pfizer Inc., with BioNTech have tested a modified version of their COVID vaccine to combat the BA.1 Omicron variant.

Although they said the vaccine produced a good immune response to BA.1 and newer variants circulating, they saw a lower response to BA.4 and BA.5.

Separately, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is currently reviewing two adapted vaccine variants, expects the first next-generation vaccine to be approved in September.

"In the meantime, it is important to consider using the current official vaccine as a second booster in the most susceptible people," said EMA Executive Director Emir Cooke.

There is no clear evidence to support giving a second booster dose to people under the age of 60 who are not at increased risk of severe disease, the ECDC added on Monday.