Covid-19 vaccination booster dosage
Pfizer and BioNTech have presented initial support to the US Food and Drug Administration to validate the use of a Covid-19 vaccination booster dosage.
“Given the high levels of immune responses observed, a booster dose given within 6 to 12 months after the primary vaccination schedule may help maintain a high level of protection against COVID-19,” the company said in a statement.
“This initial data indicate that we may preserve and even exceed the high levels of protection against the wild-type virus and relevant variants using the third dose of our vaccine,” added Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech.
“A booster vaccine could help reduce infection and disease rates in people who have previously been vaccinated and better control the spread of virus variants during the coming season.”
Need of the booster-dose
The information on booster shots comes as the number of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations has increased, particularly among the unvaccinated in the South. Pfizer executives believe people will require a booster dose shortly, but US health experts disagree.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved and recommended a third vaccination dosage for select immunocompromised persons who had little or no reaction to the first two shots. Nonetheless, health officials have concentrated their efforts on convincing unvaccinated people to be vaccinated.
According to research from Johns Hopkins University, cases are on the rise in 40 states. According to the National Institutes of Health director, the United States could soon be reporting a never-before-seen rate of more than 200,000 new cases every day.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they expect the trial’s results to evaluate a booster dose “shortly,” and they plan to submit the data to the FDA and other regulatory authorities.
They also indicated that if the FDA approves their vaccine in the United States, they will submit a supplement to their license application to request a booster dosage for those aged 16 and higher. The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination is currently only available to people aged 12 and higher.
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Source: CNN
