Too Early To Know If New Covid Variant Needs New Vaccine: EU Medical Body
NDTV
The EU has reacted with concern to news of the new strain, proposing that member states stop all flights to and from southern African where it was first discovered.
The EU's drug regulator said on Friday that it was closely monitoring the new B.1.1.529 Covid-19 variant, but it was too soon to tell if updated vaccines would be needed.
The European Medicines Agency said it needed more details to see if the strain, which has "numerous mutations", could evade the current four jabs authorised for the bloc.
"We are closely monitoring the newly emerged B.1.1.529 variant which presents numerous mutations in the Covid-19 spike protein," the Amsterdam-based EMA said in a statement to AFP.
"Current information is insufficient to determine if this variant is going to spread significantly and to what extent it may evade the immunity received with vaccines."
