New York, The Indonesia Post – Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE begin clinical trials of a vaccine specifically designed to combat the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
“While current research and data suggest that boosters continue to provide a high level of protection against severe illness and hospitalization due to Omicron, we recognize the need to be prepared as this protection diminishes over time and could potentially help address Omicron and new variants in the future,” said the Head of Research. and Pfizer Vaccine Development, Kathrin Jansen, in a statement Tuesday.
The two companies plan to test the immune response generated by the Omicron-based vaccine, both as a three-shot regimen in unvaccinated people and as a booster dose for people who have received two doses of their original vaccine.
They also tested the fourth dose of the current vaccine against the fourth dose of the Omicron-based vaccine in people who received the third dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, three to six months earlier.
The two companies plan to study the vaccine’s safety and suitability for the more than 1,400 people who will be enrolled in the trial.
Pfizer said that the two-dose regimen of the original vaccine may not be sufficient to protect a person from infection with the Omicron variant, and that protection against hospitalization and death may be reduced.
However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a third dose of mRNA-based vaccines, such as the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, has provided 90 percent protection against hospitalization for COVID-19.
Some countries have started offering additional booster doses, but recent research from Israel shows that while the fourth dose of the mRNA vaccine increases antibodies, the levels are not high enough to prevent infection by the Omicron variant.
The Omicron variant has replaced Delta as the dominant variant in many parts of the world and Omicron itself is now split into distinct subvariants, one of which is BA2, which raises particular concerns. (ojn/bbs)
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