Pfizer and BioNTech begin testing Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine – National

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE mentioned on Tuesday they began a scientific trial to check a brand new model of their vaccine particularly designed to focus on the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which has eluded a few of the  safety supplied by the unique two-dose vaccine routine.

The businesses plan to check the immune response generated by the Omicron-based vaccine each as a three-shot routine in unvaccinated individuals and as a booster shot for individuals who already acquired two doses of their unique vaccine.

They’re additionally testing a fourth dose of the present vaccine in opposition to a fourth dose of the Omicron-based vaccine in individuals who acquired their third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine three to 6 months earlier.

The businesses plan to check the security and tolerability of the photographs within the greater than 1,400 individuals who will likely be enrolled within the trial.

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“Whereas present analysis and real-world knowledge present that boosters proceed to supply a excessive degree of safety in opposition to extreme illness and hospitalization with Omicron, we acknowledge the must be ready within the occasion this safety wanes over time and to probably assist handle Omicron and new variants sooner or later,” Pfizer’s head of vaccine analysis and growth, Kathrin Jansen, mentioned in an announcement.

Pfizer has mentioned {that a} two-dose routine of the unique vaccine will not be enough to guard in opposition to an infection from the Omicron variant, and that safety in opposition to hospitalizations and deaths could also be waning.

Nonetheless, the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention says a 3rd dose of an mRNA vaccine just like the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has supplied 90 per cent safety in opposition to hospitalization as a result of COVID-19.

Some international locations have already began providing further booster doses, however a current examine from Israel confirmed that whereas a fourth dose of an mRNA vaccine boosted antibodies, the extent was not excessive sufficient to stop an infection by the Omicron variant.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Modifying by Leslie Adler)