London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 04, 2025

EU drugs regulator urges people to follow through on 2nd Covid vaccine doses as Delta variant continues to surge in Europe

EU drugs regulator urges people to follow through on 2nd Covid vaccine doses as Delta variant continues to surge in Europe

As the Delta variant becomes increasingly prevalent, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has urged citizens to get their second Covid-19 vaccine shot. It is also reviewing reported side-effects of Johnson & Johnson’s jab.
In a press statement on Wednesday, the EMA said the growing prevalence of the Delta variant across the nations in the bloc had reinforced the importance of people getting their second Covid-19 dose to ensure maximum protection.

“Preliminary evidence suggests that both doses of a two-dose Covid-19 vaccine like [Pfizer’s] Comirnaty, [Moderna’s] Spikevax or [AstraZeneca’s] Vaxzevria are needed to provide adequate protection against the Delta variant,” the statement reads, adding that the new strain may also be linked with increased hospitalization.

There are still 10 EU/EEA nations where 30% or more of the population over the age of 80 have not yet completed the recommended vaccination course, according to the EMA and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control tracker. With the exception of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has not been used as widely, all other vaccines are administered in a two-dose regimen.

In other statements on Wednesday, the EMA provided updates on the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines it has approved for use in the EU. Following on from Tuesday’s news that the agency would be investigating a US warning about cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the EMA said it had isolated 15 potentially linked cases in the EU. It said it could neither confirm nor rule out any causal relationship, however.

On Monday, health authorities in the US warned of a possible link between the one-shot vaccine and the rare nerve disorder. Of 100 preliminary reports, 95 were serious cases that required hospitalization, and there was one reported death.

The EMA also said it had concluded an investigation into nine cases of immune thrombocytopenia that were “possibly related” to the widely-used Moderna vaccine, but, again, there was no clear causal relationship.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×