Exclusive: EU drugs regulator plans to fast track variant-modified COVID vaccines

FILE PHOTO: Doctor Bertram Wiedenmann (R), prepares the vaccination of a patient with AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine at Berlin's former Tegel TXL airport, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Berlin, Germany, February 10, 2021. Kay Nietfeld/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

MILAN (Reuters) - Europe's medicines regulator is planning to speed up assessments of any COVID-19 vaccines that are modified to protect against variants of the virus, the head of the agency's COVID-19 task-force told Reuters on Friday.

Marco Cavaleri, chair of the vaccine evaluation team at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said there should be no need for lengthy large-scale trials like those needed to evaluate the first COVID-19 vaccines, since tweaks for new variants can be tested on smaller groups.