Vaccine against omicron variant available from September - Health Min

Vaccines for the Omicron Covid variant will be available from September, the health minister has announced.

In an interview for the RMF FM radio station, Adam Niedzielski said that two producers were ready to introduce a vaccine to tackle the variant that caused havoc around the world over last winter.

The minister said that he had information on new vaccines from two producers, Moderna and one that he refrained from naming.

"At the moment, we have declarations from the largest producers (of vaccines - PAP) that documents will be made available soon, which will show that the vaccination is not against the original version of the coronavirus, but against the Omicron (variant - PAP)," he explained.

"If the European Medicine Agency (EMA) approves the research into this vaccine, we will present it for use," he continued. "Both manufacturers have declared that the new vaccine, adapted to the Omicron variant, will be launched in September." he noted.

Niedzielski reported that last week he received information from Moderna saying that they had carried out initial tests of the new vaccine, and that the results will be submitted to the European Union probably in August.

This could pave the way for fourth doses for specific age groups or the entire population.

The health minister added that people cannot talk about "a break from the coronavirus because the epidemic is with us all the time and new cases occur all the time.”

"According to short-term forecasts… at the beginning of July we will see a temporary increase to about a 1,000 cases of infections per day. This acceleration should not turn into large increases in July," Niedzielski explained.