Two vaccines that specifically target the Omicron variant have been granted “provisional determination” by Australia’s drugs regulator, the first step in a process for getting the vaccines approved for use.
It comes as the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron drive a new wave of cases, prompting premiers to warn of increasing hospitalisations and deaths, and renewed calls to the public to wear masks in crowded indoor spaces.
While existing vaccines are very effective at preventing hospitalisation with and death from BA.4 and BA.5, they are less effective at stopping transmission and symptoms.
One of the challenges Atagi faces in making its decision is that for healthy people, three vaccine doses are very effective at preventing severe disease and death, and this combined with immunity from Covid-19 infections may mean approving a fourth dose for everyone is not effective.
The wider concern may be ensuring booster doses are accessible for the most vulnerable, with elderly and under-vaccinated people with comorbidities overrepresented in Covid deaths.
Atagi will also be considering whether it is worth waiting for better, more targeted boosters on the horizon, such as Pfizer’s.
However, the two Pfizer vaccines granted provisional determination on Wednesday target the spike protein of the Omicron BA.1 variant of concern. Data is still being collected by Pfizer on how effective the vaccines might be against the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants becoming dominant in Australia.
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