“With cases rising and hospitalizations again as we enter the summer period, I urge everyone to get vaccinated and boosted as quickly as possible. There is no time to lose,” European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said in a statement.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency said that second boosters can be given at least four months after the first dose.
Monday’s advice comes after agencies recommended in April that people over 80 be considered for a second booster dose.
“Since there is a new wave currently underway in Europe, with increased rates of hospital admissions and intensive care units, it is critical that public health authorities now consider people aged 60-79 as well as those at risk of any age for a dose A second booster,” the agencies said in a statement.
The center’s director, Andrea Ammon, said the new wave is being driven by the highly transmissible BA.5 mutation of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
“This marks the beginning of a new and widespread wave of COVID-19 across the European Union,” she said. “There are still many individuals at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection who we need to protect as soon as possible. We need to remind people of the importance of vaccination from the first shot to the second booster. We have to start today.”
At present, the agencies said, “there is no clear evidence to support giving a second booster dose to people under 60 years of age who are not at increased risk of severe disease.” They added that there was no immediate need to give second boosters to health care workers or those working in long-term care homes unless they were at high risk.
Monday’s advice from the EU comes amid concern of scientists New omicron mutant – called BA2.75 – gaining ground in India and showing up in other countries.
Scientists say the new alternative may be able to spread quickly and overcome immunity from previous vaccines and infections. It is unclear whether it can cause more serious disease than other omicron variants, including the globally prominent BA.5.