Swiss regulator approves Pfizer/BioNTech booster for 16 and up
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.
University students in Switzerland join Gaza protest wave
This content was published on
Pro-Palestinian activists occupied university buildings in Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich on Tuesday, widening the protest movement in the Alpine nation.
TradeXBank to resume full operations after Sberbank Switzerland taken off sanctions list
This content was published on
TradeXBank, the former Swiss branch of Russia’s Sberbank, will be able to resume its dollar-denominated activities from the second half of this year.
Geneva decides not to remove controversial memorials
This content was published on
The city of Geneva has presented an action plan regarding a series of controversial local statues and monuments of historical figures linked to racism, colonialism or slavery.
University of Lausanne calls for end to pro-Palestine sit-in
This content was published on
The pro-Palestinian occupation continues at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). On Monday evening, a group of students refused to agree to the deadline set by the rectorate.
Ukraine peace conference should include Russia, says Chinese ambassador
This content was published on
China supports a peace conference on the Ukraine war that would see equal participation of all parties, says Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui.
This content was published on
A majority of Swiss citizens have open attitudes towards various infertility treatments, including even egg donation, which is currently prohibited.
Reports of Swiss cyber fraud almost doubled in six months
This content was published on
The head of the new Federal Office for Cybersecurity (FOC), Florian Schütz, has presented a new strategy after just over four months in office.
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.