Pfizer and BioNTech launched a clinical trial on Tuesday to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine that targets the Covid omicron variant, as concerns grow that the current shots aren't holding up against infections and mild illness caused by the strain discovered just over two months ago.
Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, told CNBC that the company will have a vaccine ready by March. Bourla said that the vaccine will target the other Covid variants.
The efficacy of the current vaccine against infections and mild-to-moderate disease from omicron is waning more rapidly compared with prior strains of the virus, according to the CEO of BioNTech. The goal is to develop a vaccine that protects against omicron.
A study published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that a booster dose of Pfizer's vaccine was 90 percent effective in preventing hospitalization after the third shot.
Data from the U.K. Health Security Agency shows that booster doses are 75% effective at preventing infections from omicron two to four weeks after the third shot. The study found that boosters weaken after about 10 weeks.
While current research and real-world data show that boosters continue to provide a high level of protection against severe disease and hospitalization with omicron, we recognize the need to be prepared in the event this protection fades over time and to potentially help address omicron and new.
Pfizer and BioNTech are conducting a study to evaluate up to 1,420 people. Some people will receive a fourth dose of the current vaccine in order to evaluate the omicron vaccine.
Bourla told CNBC he doesn't know if an omicron-specific vaccine is needed right now or how it would be used. He said that Pfizer will have the vaccine ready as soon as possible.
Bourla said the hope is that we will achieve something that will have way, way better protection against infections.
The omicron variant has a lot of changes on the spikeProtein that the virus uses to invade human cells. The current vaccines target the spike. It becomes more difficult for vaccine-generated antibodies to block the spike in the original strain of the virus.
Omicron, which was first detected in South Africa in November, has spread quickly and caused an unprecedented wave of infections around the world.
More than 80 million Covid cases have been reported to the WHO since the omicron variant was identified nine weeks ago.
People don't get sicker from omicron than from the delta variant. Because omicron has changed so far away from the original strain vaccines, it is causing more mild breakthrough infections, raising concern that it will result in disruptions to essential services as many people call out sick.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
