Pfizer-BioNTech To Seek Emergency Authorization for 3rd Shot of its Coronavirus Vaccine

Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval for the 3rd dose of its coronavirus vaccine, saying on Thursday that one more dose within a year could appreciably boost immunity and possibly help fend off the new worrisome, more transmissible Delta variant, that has spread to at least hundred nations.

The drug makers anticipate to start clinical trials of the latest version of its vaccine in August.

Pfizer/BioNTech also stated promising outcomes from studies of individuals who got the 3rd dose of its original vaccine. The pharmaceutical firm said that a booster given 6-months after the 2nd shot increases the antibodies’ potency against the original SARS-CoV-2 and Beta mutant by five to ten times.

Two shots of most COVID-19 vaccines are critical to develop high-levels of coronavirus-fighting antibodies against all transformations of the virus, not just the Delta variant, and most of the countries are desperate to receive those initial shots as the COVID epidemic continues to rage.

However, antibodies naturally abate eventually, so studies are also underway to tell if and when vaccine might be required.

Antibody Levels rise 5-10 times After a 3rd Shot

Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten told the AP media on Thursday that initial data from the drug firm’s booster study recommends people’s antibody levels rise 5-10 times after a 3rd dose, compared to their 2nd shot some months earlier.

At present only 48 percent of the American population is fully protected, and some parts of the nation have far lower inoculation rates, places where the infectious Delta variant is surging. The CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said Thursday that is leading to two facts, vaccinated swaths of the United States are getting back to normal while COVID-related hospitalizations are increasing in other places. She said that rapid rise is troubling.

Researchers in the UK found two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, for example, are 96 percent effective against hospitalization with the Delta mutant and 88 percent protective against infection.

Whether the fully immunized still require to wear face-masks in places where the Delta mutant is rising is a growing question. In America, the US CDC maintains that fully protected people do not need to.

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