EC to issue advice on 4th Covid-19 vaccine dose

EU health ministers tasked the European Commission on Tuesday to issue common advice for the administration of a fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose in the European Union, reported dpa.

The EU executive was "to draft a recommendation on the fourth vaccination dose in the shortest amount of time on a scientific basis," German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said.

EU health ministers were meeting in Brussels to discuss the bloc's future Covid-19 strategy as well as EU efforts to share vaccine doses with other countries.

Lauterbach's proposal for the commission to issue the advice to harmonize the EU's position on the fourth dose was backed by a majority of EU health ministers.

"Recent data from Israel shows: those over 60 or with pre-existing conditions should be vaccinated a fourth time," Lauterbach said after the meeting.

Before the meeting, the German health minister had urged fellow EU member states not to forget the pandemic was still happening. "We must not forget the Covid-19 pandemic is not over in Europe," he said.