Pfizer says omicron shots substantially boosted antibodies against BA.5 subvariant in early human data

In the first direct human data released to the public on the new shots, Pfizer and its German partner said their new omicron boosters substantially increased protective antibodies against the dominant omicron BA.5 sub variant for adults.

Blood samples were taken from 40 people older than 55 who received the omicron booster. According to the companies, the two age groups saw a significant increase in the amount of antibodies that block the BA.5 subvariant.

40 people older than 55 who received the omicron booster were compared to 40 people who received a fourth dose of the first generation vaccine. According to the companies, the participants who received the first generation vaccine saw a small increase in their antibody levels.

The time between the third and fourth dose of the first generation vaccine was six months, while the time between the third and fourth dose was 11 months.

The companies said that the safety profile of the new booster is the same as the original vaccine. Pfizer and BioNTech will be releasing more immune response data in the near future.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement that the data suggests that the bivalent vaccine will provide better protection against currently circulating variant than the original vaccine.

Everyone ages 5 and up can now take Pfizer's omicron boosters. The original version of Covid that first appeared in China more than two years ago is one of the targets of the shots. The shots were only developed against the first strain.

The White House believes that the new shots will provide better protection against omicron than the first generation vaccine. The first generation vaccines are no longer able to provide protection against infections because the virus has changed a lot.

Most infections in the U.S. are caused by omicron BA.5 because the FDA did not give direct human data on how the shots perform. The agency relied on human data from a shot developed by Pfizer against the original version of omicron, called BA.1, as well as data from animal studies that looked at how the shots performed against BA.5.

In order to head off a surge of infections, the FDA rolled out the shots this fall. Pfizer wasn't able to collect data from clinical trials. According to Dr. Peter Marks, head of the FDA vaccine division, the agency authorized the omicron shots using the same process used every year to update flu shots.