BIONTECH

The number of coronavirus vaccinations in the world has exceeded 8 billion. More than half of them (4.16 billion) are in three countries - China (2.5 billion), India (1.2 billion) and the United States (0.46 billion).

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the time had come for the European Union to consider mandatory vaccination of the entire population, Euronews reports.

Στις 13 Δεκεμβρίου διαθέσιμο στην Ενωση το παιδικό εμβόλιο των Pfizer/BioNTech

The European drug regulator announced on Tuesday that it would approve vaccines adapted to Covid's new version, Omicron, within three to four months if necessary, but existing drugs would continue to provide protection, Reuters reported.

BioNTech has begun work on a vaccine specifically for the new variant of the coronavirus Omicron, which was first identified in South Africa.

The development of an adapted vaccine is part of the standard procedure.

The first steps for a possible new vaccine are carried out in parallel with the assessment of whether one will be needed after the advent of Omicron.

Will the vaccines stop the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the New York Times asks. The new version raises new concerns, because if it turns out that the existing vaccines do not affect it, they will have to be modified, the American publication notes.

Britain has announced that it will convene an emergency meeting of G-7 health ministers tomorrow to discuss developments in the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, Reuters reported.

Biontech says it expects to have more data within two weeks to help determine whether the coronavirus vaccine, which it co-developed with Pfizer, needs to be reworked because of a new version of the coronavirus discovered in South Africa.

Pfizer and Biontech have said they expect to be able to deliver a possible new vaccine made for the new version in about 100 days, if necessary.

The Commission for Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EDA) has recommended that the use of the Comirnaty vaccine by Biontech / Pfizer against COVID-19 be given to children aged 5 to 11 years.

The vaccine is already used on children that are 12 years old.

A study published in the British Medical Journal found a gradual increase in the risk of COVID-19 on the 19th day after taking a second dose of the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine against the new coronavirus, Medical Express reported.