National authorities will determine who should receive which vaccines and when, taking into account factors such as infection and hospitalization rates, the risk to vulnerable populations, vaccination coverage and vaccine availability.
The original COVID-19 vaccines are still effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death associated with COVID-19 and will continue to be used within vaccination campaigns, in particular for primary vaccinations.
Updated bivalent vaccines (i.e. Moderna’s Spikevax bivalent Original/Omicron BA.1 vaccine, Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.1 and Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.4-5) are recommended by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for use in adults and adolescents from the age of 12 years, for a booster dose at least 3 months after primary vaccination (or an earlier booster dose) with a COVID-19 vaccine.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that a booster with one of these bivalent vaccines be administered at least 2 months after the last COVID-19 vaccine dose and as a single dose. Moderna’s Spikevax bivalent Original/Omicron BA.1 vaccine is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.1 and Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.4-5 are authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older.
