Europe's medicine regulator has warned countries not to go it alone with single-dose injections as pressure builds on governments to speed up vaccination.
The European Medicines Agency said on Monday the maximum interval should be 42 days between the first and the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.
Evidence of the vaccine's efficacy is based on a study where doses were administered 19 to 42 days apart, the agency said.
It said that full protection came seven days after the booster.
"Any change to this would require a variation to the marketing authorisation as well as more clinical data to support such a change, otherwise it would be considered as 'off-label use'," the agency said.
Europe is battling to catch up in the vaccine race as authorities face criticism for being slow.
Denmark became the latest country to follow a British initiative to stretch the interlude between doses to maximise the number of people receiving the initial injection.
Talks on approving the Moderna vaccine were brought forward to Monday.
The European Commission was forced to defend its strategy after being accused of failing to deliver enough doses.
Member states have complained that Europe’s Covid-19 response has been far too slow compared to those of Britain and the US.
They have pushed through emergency authorisation of two vaccines.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would “not let an unjustified slowness take hold”.
The first doses of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine were administered in England on Monday.
The UK has ordered about 100 million doses of that vaccine, enough to give 50 million people the two shots required, and last month Britain became the first country to use the Pfizer-BioNTech inoculation.
In Finland, health authorities were reportedly unhappy that about 40,000 doses were received in December, instead of the 300,000 expected.
European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said the main problem with distribution “is an issue of production capacity, an issue that everybody is facing".
“We have actually signed contracts that would allow member states access to two billion doses, largely enough to vaccinate the whole of the EU population," Mr Mamer said.
As part of its strategy, the EU has sealed six vaccine contracts, with Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Pfizer/BioNTech, Janssen Pharmaceutica and CureVac.
Only the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which has to be stored at ultra-low temperatures, has been approved for use so far in the 27-nation EU.
The European Medicine Agency said its human medicine committee was meeting on Monday “to discuss the Moderna vaccine”.
The Agency in Amsterdam had been scheduled to discuss authorising the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use on Wednesday.
“The meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 6, is also still planned in case the committee does not reach a decision today,” the agency said.
Mr Mamer also clarified the role of the commission in securing contracts with drug makers.
He said the body did not buy doses of vaccines directly but “acted as an investor" to provide funding to pharmaceutical companies involved in their development.
The goal was to speed up research and production capacity, with each EU nation free to decide how many doses it would buy from the makers of its choice.
“Ultimately, these vaccines have to be produced, delivered, and some of the logistic chains involved are very sophisticated," Mr Mamer said.
Major deliveries of doses were anticipated by April, he said.
Asked why the European Commission did not buy more doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, health policy spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said the “main philosophy was to diversify our portfolio, not to put all our eggs in one basket".
Mr de Keersmaecker said the contract with Moderna was for an initial purchase of 80 million doses on behalf of all EU nations, but the commission intends to double that when the vaccine is approved.
It has an option for another 100 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses that will bring the total to 300 million, he said.
Last week, the agency said EU approval of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in the next month was unlikely.
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
MATCH INFO
Everton 0
Manchester City 2 (Laporte 45 2', Jesus 90 7')
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes
Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island
Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
