The British medical regulator will accelerate the approval of vaccines against new variants of the coronavirus.
Pharmacists who modify a corona vaccine that has already been approved do not have to do long-term research afterwards to prove that the drug works.
Some existing vaccines are less effective against new variants, including those found in Brazil and South Africa. “It is a priority for us to make effective vaccines available to the public as soon as possible, without compromising on safety,” said a top associate of regulator MHRA.
The corona vaccines currently in use in Europe have been developed at an unprecedented speed. That took less than a year, while something like that can typically take ten years. Adapting vaccines when the coronavirus mutates should go even faster.
These modified vaccines should soon be approved in a few weeks or months, the BBC writes. Among other things, the accelerated approval procedure looks at antibodies that are produced after vaccination. This measures how effective the vaccine is. It must also be clear that the drug is safe.
A similar rapid procedure for the approval of influenza vaccines already exists in the United Kingdom. They also have to be adjusted continuously.