The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has given the green light for the adapted corona vaccines from Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna.
Biontech and Pfizer as well as the US company Moderna had previously submitted applications for approval of a vaccine adapted to the Covid subtype BA.1.
The EMA is responsible for the EU-wide approval of the vaccine.
The CHMP looked at the assessment of two of the companies' so-called bivalent mRNA vaccines.
Bivalent means that two components are taken into account: The preparations are adapted both to the original type of Sars-CoV-2 and to the omicron subline BA.1.
Experts assume that these vaccines also bring an advantage against the subtype BA.5, which currently dominates in Germany.
Specifically, according to the EMA, the committee checks whether quality, safety and effectiveness requirements are met and whether there is a positive risk-benefit ratio.
The adapted vaccines have been tested on several hundred subjects, says the Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, Carsten Watzl.
The antibody reactions were compared with a control group that had received the previous vaccine a fourth time.
"We saw significantly more antibodies against the omicron variant in people with the adapted vaccine - in young people, old people and those who have recovered," said Watzl.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had already granted emergency use authorization for the two vaccines on Wednesday.
The FDA cleared the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine for booster shots in children ages 12 and older, and the Moderna vaccine for ages 18 and older.
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