Pfizer told the FDA on Wednesday that data from its clinical trials suggest that a third shot of the coronavirus vaccine may be needed six months after the second dose due to decreased efficacy.
Why it’s important: On Friday, the FDA advisory committee will review Pfizer’s clinical trials and other supporting and conflicting data on coronavirus booster vaccines and make recommendations on whether more Americans 16 years of age or older should receive an additional dose.
By numbers: Pfizer data from his trials showed that the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine, which he developed with BioNTech, degrades by about 6% every two months after the second dose, increasing the likelihood of advanced cases. .
- The company said data from an advanced case analysis also suggested they were more common among people who had received their second dose before others.
- The drop in efficacy is due to “decreased immune responses to the vaccine” and not to the Delta variant of the virus that escapes the protection the vaccine offers, Pfizer said.
The other side: International public health experts, including two FDA vaccine leaders leaving the agency this year, wrote a new article published in The Lancet this week, booster doses are not needed for the public at this time, reports Bob Herman of Axios.
- They said current evidence suggests that vaccines are still extremely effective in preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19 and that doses used for booster vaccines would save more lives by inoculating populations that are not currently vaccinated.
- Experts supported booster shots for immunocompromised people.
The big picture: The Biden administration hopes to soon start offering booster shots to everyone six months after its second dose.
- However, the World Health Organization strongly opposes developed countries offering additional doses to their general public, while developing countries strive to obtain sufficient doses for their citizens.
- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last week called on developed countries to give up strengthening initiatives by the end of the year.
- The Biden administration has argued that additional features are needed to curb the spread of the virus in the United States and that developed countries can administer boosters and administer doses to developing countries.
In depth: Israel is preparing for the second potential round of coronavirus booster shots