EU regulator approves Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine targeting Omicron sub-variants

THE HAGUE - The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday approved a vaccine by Pfizer/BioNTech specifically targeting the new and infectious BA.4 and BA.5 types of the Omicron variant.

It will be the first jab of its kind in the 27-member bloc.

The "EMA's human medicines committee has recommended authorising an adapted bivalent vaccine targeting the Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 in addition to the original strain of SARS-CoV-2," the Amsterdam-based agency said in a statement.

The Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 cause a milder illness but they are much more transmissible than the previous strains and have already triggered new waves of Covid-19 in Europe and the United States. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned in July that the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over.