Govt Advisers Back Anti-Omicron Covid Shot

An advisory panel said late on Monday that it would recommend that the government authorise the use of an updated version of a Covid vaccine targeting the Omicron Covid variant.

The administration welcomed the recommendation from the Advisory Panel on Covid-19 Vaccines and said Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau would come to a decision "as soon as possible" on the use of the updated BioNTech vaccine.

Panel members considering the application from distributor Fosun Pharma said they believed that the benefits of authorising the updated vaccine for emergency use outweigh the risks.

They've suggested adding conditions to the approval, including requiring the drug manufacturer to continue providing the latest clinical data, safety update reports, and quality certification documents for each batch of vaccines.

Other government advisers had earlier recommended that the updated vaccine, known as a "bivalent" jab, would be suitable as an alternative for booster doses for people aged 12 and above.

The jab targets the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants, but experts say it may trigger broader immunity against different strains compared to the original version.

BioNTech's bivalent vaccine has already been approved for use in countries such as the United States and UK, as well as the European Union.