Posted By Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on May 7, 2025
(Reuters) - The European Union's health regulator said on Wednesday it was reviewing Valneva's chikungunya vaccine after reports of serious side effects in older adults.
The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) safety committee has recommended temporarily restricting the use of the vaccine, branded as Ixchiq, in adults aged 65 years and older.
About 17 serious adverse events, including two deaths, have been reported so far globally in people aged between 62 and 89 years who had received the vaccine, the EMA said in a statement.
The exact cause of the side effects and their relationship with the vaccine have not yet been determined, the agency said, adding that the affected individuals also had other health conditions.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Shinjini Ganguli)