Finally! The drug authority Swissmedic gives its go for the booster vaccination from Moderna and Biontech / Pfizer. The refresher pik is permitted for particularly vulnerable people – in particular for senior citizens. “People at particular risk can therefore receive a booster vaccination in order to continue to be adequately protected against severe courses of the Covid-19 disease,” writes Swissmedic in a press release.
Now the booster vaccinations can be used more widely. Swissmedic is now approving the third vaccination “for certain population groups”, specifically “for people who are particularly at risk” and “for people with a weakened immune system”, as the message states.
With the mRNA vaccine from Moderna, those affected receive only half a dose, with that from Pfizer / Biontech a full dose. Swissmedic has adjusted the product information accordingly.
With the approval of Swissmedic, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the Federal Commission for Vaccination (Ekif) also change the vaccination recommendation: “Protection can decrease somewhat in older people over time,” writes the FOPH. “In order to continue to protect them as best as possible from a serious illness, we recommend a booster vaccination for people over 65 years of age.”
Many have been waiting for this
Many have been waiting for this for a long time, because Moderna and Biontech / Pfizer submitted their approval applications back in September. However, they still had to provide data in order to get to the kiss on the hand. Swissmedic always defended itself against the accusation that the approval of third-party vaccinations against Covid-19 was progressing too slowly.
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Up until now, the booster vaccination was only recommended for people with a weakened immune system – for example people who have had a transplant. A third vaccination has currently been administered to around 8,000 people in Switzerland.
Increasing impatience
In the past few weeks, impatience has increased. In particular, because fully vaccinated elderly people had vaccination breakthroughs – even deaths. A study shows that the booster vaccination ensures the restoration of a high level of vaccination protection.
In addition, other countries have been using booster vaccinations for a long time. Israel made the start. France, Germany and the USA followed, where President Joe Biden (78) recently had himself vaccinated for the third time.
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Media conference at 2 p.m.
“Booster vaccinations would increase the likely slightly decreasing protection in older people, but we don’t know for how long,” said vaccination boss Christoph Berger (59) recently in an interview with Blick. “It seems important to me to emphasize that their protection increases from around 85 to 95 percent.”
It will take a while before the booster vaccinations start on a broad front in the cantons. The federal corona experts will inform about the next steps at a media conference in the afternoon.
The following professionals take part:
- Patrick Mathys, Head of the Crisis Management and International Cooperation Section at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH)
- Claus Bolte, Head of Authorization at Swissmedic
- Christoph Berger, President of the Federal Commission for Vaccination Issues (Ekif)
- Tanja Stadler, President of the Corona Scientific Task Force
Blick reports live from 2 p.m.
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