Vaxzevria Gains Approval in EU as a Third Dose COVID-19 Booster in Adults

AstraZeneca has revealed in a May 23, 2022 press release, that its recombinant COVID-19 vaccine originally invented by the University of Oxford, Vaxzevria (ChAdOx1-S), has been given the nod by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as a third dose booster vaccine for use in the European Union (EU).

Through this latest market authorization, healthcare professionals will be able to use the vaccine as a third dose booster in patients who have already been administered a primary vaccine schedule of either Vaxzevria or other EU-approved messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines. The authorization has been based on EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommendation, for which there was a review of data demonstrating an increased immune response with a third dose booster Vaxzevria jab.

“[This] marketing authorization for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as a third dose booster is an important step towards our goal of providing continued protection against COVID-19 for all populations,” said Mene Pangalos, executive vice-president, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, in the press release. “Ensuring a longer duration of immune protection is essential to the long-term management of COVID-19 globally, and boosters can address the waning of protection over time that has been seen with all primary vaccine schedules to date.”