(Adds details, quotes, background)
May 12 (Reuters) - More clinical and real-world data is
needed on how well and for how long COVID-19 vaccines are
protective before any decisions should be made on offering third
or booster doses, Europe's drug regulators said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a news briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, the
European Medicines Agency's head of biological health threats
and vaccines strategy Marco Cavaleri cautioned against making
"premature" moves to deploy booster COVID-19 shots.
"We need to look into real-world evidence... to give us the
data we need to know when would be the right time to give a
third dose," he said.
"We need to have data that show in the field, either
real-world evidence or clinical trials, that show what is the
level of protection that is retained by the vaccines that we
currently have."
The European Union has already begun ordering COVID-19
booster vaccines and Britain and the United States have also
begun preparing plans to offer third doses before the winter.
Asked about evidence so far on COVID-19 vaccine performance
against a new variant that emerged in India, Cavaleri said EMA
was monitoring the situation "very closely" and that data was
"rather reassuring" for vaccines in use in the EU.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland in London and Ludwig Burger in
Frankfurt, Editing by Catherine Evans and Gabriela Baczynska)
Astrazeneca (AZN)