Swiss regulator approves Pfizer/BioNTech booster for 16 and up
The extension of the Covid-19 booster only applies to the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.
Keystone / Christophe Archambault / Pool
Swissmedic has approved the extension of Covid-19 boosters for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to all people aged 16 and over. This now "clears the way" for wider use of the booster vaccination, it said.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA/jdp
Русский
ru
Вакцина от Pfizer/BioNTech одобрена для ревакцинации в Швейцарии
On Tuesday, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products said that it was “adapting the product information” for the Pfizer/BioNTech so that a booster can be administered to people 16 years and up. In all cases, the third dose must be administered at least six months after the second dose.
Swissmedic reached the decision based on, among other things, a study involving 10,000 participants aged 16 to 87 years. The interim results of this study did not reveal any evidence of “new risk aspects” with the third vaccine dose, Swissmedic said.
Swissmedic “continues to monitor very closely the benefits and risks of the vaccine” for preventing Covid-19. The extension of boosters doesn’t apply to the Moderna vaccine.
The Federal Commission for Vaccination is now specifying detailed vaccination recommendations for the extension.
Booster doses of both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are currently being administered to specific groups, namely people over 65 and “people with a weakened immune system” from the age of 12. This followed Swissmedic’s approval of boosters at the end of October. A booster campaign for the rest of the population is expected to start soon.
More
More
Many cantons are unready for big Covid-19 booster campaign, says paper
This content was published on
The authorities are unprepared for a Covid-19 booster campaign for the under-65s, reports the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.
The Swiss government also announced on Tuesday that it has reserved around 8,000 packages of the antiviral drug Molnupiravir to treat Covid-19. A clinical trial has demonstrated efficacy in non-hospitalised Covid-19 patients at high risk of severe disease progression, said the Swiss National Scientific Taskforce.
With this deal, the government saidExternal link the country has access to another “promising” Covid-19 drug, in addition to casirivimab/imdevimab (developed by Roche and Regeneron) and sotrovimab (sold by GSK). In contrast to these monoclonal antibodies, molnupiravir is an antiviral treatment and can be administered orally. According to the Federal Office of Public Health, the government will cover the cost of treatment in the outpatient setting until it is reimbursed by mandatory health insurance.
Molnupiravir is expected to be available by January 2022 at the latest but it has not been approved in Switzerland. However, it can already be used to treat Covid-19 patients during the ongoing approval process after “an adaptation of Covid-19 Regulation 3, which has yet to take place,” the statement added.
The contract, the amount of which is confidential, was signed with the company MSD Merck Sharp & Dohme Switzerland.
Popular Stories
More
Workplace Switzerland
Trump tariff shock: how Switzerland is positioning itself
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
‘Pressure will increase on Switzerland to invest more in defence’
This content was published on
Markus Mäder, Switzerland's state secretary for security policy, believes that more cooperation is needed in order to strengthen defence in Europe.
Just one in five Swiss attend a religious service at Easter
This content was published on
Only one in five people in Switzerland attend a religious service during the Easter period or give up meat or alcohol for at least one day of fasting. Around 25% of those polled see Easter primarily as a family holiday, according to the survey.
Major road disruptions continue after heavy snowfall in parts of Switzerland
This content was published on
The snowfall has ended in the southern Swiss canton of Valais, the cantonal emergency services said on Friday. Several roads, however, remain closed.
Swiss businessman gets prison term for asbestos deaths
This content was published on
Stephan Schmidheiny has been sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison by the Turin Court of Appeal in a case against the former Eternit executive over deaths linked to asbestos exposure in Italy.
This content was published on
Swiss imports and exports reached new heights in the first quarter, driven by the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors. Shipments to the US rose sharply.
This content was published on
Although it has only been in operation since 2000, the Institute of Research in Biomedicine (IRB) has already become a centre of international importance in the field of biomedical research. It has over 300 publications to its credit in academic journals, including Science and Nature. A visitor arriving at the institute for the first…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.