Pfizer says fine-tuned COVID shots boost Omicron protection

Pfizer announced on Saturday that it is safe and functional to fine-tune the COVID-19 vaccine to better target Omicron variants. ..

Vaccines currently used in the United States provide strong protection against severe COVID-19 illness and death, especially if people are boosted. However, these vaccines targeted the original coronavirus strain, and the emergence of epidemic Omicron variants significantly reduced their effectiveness against infection.

Now that Omicron's highly contagious relatives are widespread, the Food and Drug Administration hopes that the improved booster will be better protected from another COVID-19 with Pfizer. We are considering ordering recipe changes for vaccines made by both rival Moderna. The surge was expected this fall and winter.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech have researched two different ways to update shots. They also tested whether to maintain today's standard dose (30 micrograms) or double the intensity of the shot.

In a study of more than 1,200 middle-aged and older adults who had already been vaccinated three times, Pfizer said both booster approaches spurred a significant increase in antibodies to fight Omicron. Said.

"Based on these data, we believe there are two very strong candidates for Omicron," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

Pfizer's Omicron-only booster evoked the strongest immune response against the mutant.

However, many experts may be best approaching combination shots as they retain the proven benefits of the original COVID-19 vaccine while adding new protection against Omicron. It states that there is. Pfizer said that one month after people received the combo shots, antibodies fighting Omicron increased 9-11 times. This is more than 1.5 times better than another dose of the original vaccine.

And, importantly, in preliminary laboratory studies, fine-tuned shots can fight genetically distinct relatives of Omicrons named BA.4 and BA.5. Antibodies have also been shown to be produced, but these levels were not very high.

Moderna recently released similar results from a combination shot test that scientists call a "divalent" vaccine. The

study was not designed to track how well the updated booster prevented COVID-19 cases. Also, it is not clear how long the added protection will last.

However, the FDA's scientific adviser will discuss the data publicly on Tuesday as it is working on whether to recommend changes to the vaccine recipe prior to similar decisions by other countries. is.

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• Moderna
• COVID-19
• Pfizer