Pfizer-BioNTech seeks approval for third dose of Comirnaty vaccine: According to a statement by Pfizer-BioNTech, the company’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty may require a third dose to work more efficiently against the original strain of the coronavirus. Interim data from an ongoing trial on the vaccine shows that the additional dose of the vaccine is expected to provide better protection against the Beta and Delta variant of the virus, first found in South Africa and India respectively.
The data showed that compared to the first two doses alone, a third dose of the vaccine can increase antibody levels about five to 10 times higher against these variants. In view of the interim data, the company announced on Thursday, July 8 that it will seek regulatory approval for the third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine as it will provide better protection against the virus.
The third dose of the vaccine might be needed within six to 12 months after the full vaccination for complete protection against the virus. The company is also working on a vaccine specific for the Delta variant and the first batch of it has already been manufactured at the company’s facility in Mainz, Germany.
The decision to include a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was taken after a study published in the journal “Nature” showed that a single shot of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine barely induces any antibodies against the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
According to initial studies done on the vaccine, it was shown that after two doses, it provides 94 percent protection against early variants however, the efficacy slipped against the Delta variant. Meanwhile, the central government of India had announced on June 25 that the country is conducting the first-ever study to find the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines of the Delta Plus variant.
Earlier this week, the Israeli government also spoke about the efficiency of the vaccine and said that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was reportedly dropping in efficacy after six months of taking the shot. Israel’s health ministry’s data also shows that between June 6 and early July, the vaccine only protected 64 per cent of the country’s people against the virus, which was earlier reported to be 94 per cent.
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