WASHINGTON – Pfizer and BioNTech yesterday submitted preliminary clinical data to United States health authorities as part of their effort to seek authorisation for a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine for all Americans.
Last week, the US approved the booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for people with weakened immune systems.
Pfizer and BioNTech presented the results of their Phase 1 trial that evaluated the safety and efficacy of a third shot.
“The data we’ve seen to date suggests a third dose of our vaccine elicits antibody levels that significantly exceed those seen after the two-dose primary schedule,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and CEO, in a statement.
“A booster vaccine could help reduce infection and disease rates in people who have previously been vaccinated, and better control the spread of virus variants during the coming season,” said BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin.
The companies plan to submit the same information to European authorities in the coming weeks.
The move comes despite appeals by the World Health Organisation for a moratorium on booster shots to help ease the drastic inequity in dose distribution between rich and poor nations.
Israel has also begun administering third doses to its citizens.
An advisory committee of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, a top US healthcare agency, is slated to meet in late August to discuss the approval of a third dose for adults over 65, care-home residents, and healthcare workers. – AFP, August 17, 2021
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