European Medicines Agency

Oliver Varhelyi, the Hungarian nominee for European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, has been sent back for a second round of questioning after MEPs expressed dissatisfaction with his responses. The hearing, which took place in Brussels, involved Varhelyi addressing the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, as well as Agriculture and Rural Development committees.

The latest health bulletin from the National Public Health Organization (NPHO) covers a variety of health topics, featuring questions about vaccinations directed to the Chair of the National Vaccination Committee, Professor Emerita of Pediatrics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Maria Theodoridou, along with her responses.

The pharma giant AstraZeneca has requested that the European authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine be pulled, according to the EU medicines regulator.

In an update on the European Medicines Agency's website Wednesday, the regulator said that the approval for AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria had been withdrawn "at the request of the marketing authorization holder."

The European Commission has granted approval for the Nuvaxovid XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine, a groundbreaking step in the fight against the ever-evolving pandemic. Developed by Novavax, this marks the first protein-based vaccine tailored to address the unique challenges posed by the autumn-winter season.

EU regulators have recommended authorizing an updated Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech which targets the dominant XBB.1.5 variant of Omicron, putting it on track to become the third adapted shot  by the two companies to be approved in the bloc.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) recommend considering a second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 60 to 79 years and those in a state of health that makes them exposed to a high risk of acute diseases.

"From now on, there is talk of a one-time, annual vaccination against COVID-19, similar to the seasonal flu vaccine", said on bTV Prof. Ilko Getov, our country's representative in the European Medicines Agency.

About a third of the European population has not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19, and Bulgaria ranks last in this indicator. This was said online to journalists by Andrea Ammon, director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, quoted by BTA.

From today, all issued European green certificates for completed vaccination course will be valid for 270 days from the date of the last dose. The change is necessary due to the decision EU 2021/2301 of the European Commission of December 21 last year, which specifies the validity of the certificates and introduces uniform rules for the countries of the European Union (EU).

Under the new rules, only travelers who have received three doses of the coronavirus vaccine can enter the country without additional documents.
According to the new Regulation on the COVID-19 regime for entry into Austria, the list of high-risk countries no longer applies.