Chile’s health authorities meet with European Medicines Agency (EMA) to present details on the country’s vaccination process
Public Health Undersecretary Paula Daza, together with Dr. Rafael Araos, participated in the first meeting with the European regulatory agency to share details of Chile’s experience with immunization and booster doses.
Chile’s Public Health Undersecretary, Paula Daza, and Dr. Rafael Araos participated yesterday in a meeting with Emer Cooke, Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the entity that authorizes vaccines and medicines for the European Union.
At the meeting, which was held by videoconference from La Moneda Palace, the results of the first study in the world on the use of inactivated vaccine booster doses were presented. One of the study’s main conclusions is that all of the vaccines used as booster doses in the country significantly increase effectiveness levels in preventing symptomatic COVID-19. CoronaVac effectiveness increased from 56% to 80.2%, Pfizer-BioNTech rose from 56% to 90% and AstraZeneca went from 56% to 93%.
“We know that many countries are using similar vaccines to ours. That is why the information coming from our studies can be useful for all of them. It has allowed us to conclude that administering a booster dose is an appropriate decision, since it extends the antibodies over time, increasing protection among the population, and this is knowledge we must share. In the case of the EMA, which is an important regulatory agency, keeping them informed is vital, especially with regard to vaccination schedules,” Undersecretary Daza explained.
Dr. Araos summarized that it was “a successful first meeting with the European regulatory body to provide them with information on the Chilean vaccination program, so they know what we’re doing and the results we have, particularly with regard to inactivated vaccines and boosters.”