The Biden administration is “in discussions” to make sure it can get COVID-19 reinforcement shots if they become necessary, a top official told lawmakers on Thursday. The announcement comes as drug manufacturers promote their progress in developing additional shots, designed to boost the body’s immune response months after administration of the initial doses.
“We are in discussions right now, making sure we can secure these vaccines to get a boost or variants. We are in this process right now,” Dr. David Kessler, head of response science COVID-19, told the House. the administration. Select a subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis.
Federal health officials and drug makers have said for months that reinforcements would probably be needed at some point, though it’s not yet clear when that will be. The shots are likely to be very similar to the original version of the vaccines, but can be given in different doses or modified to protect them against variants.
Kessler warned that “no decision” had been made on the strategy for how booster shots would be administered, citing ongoing investigations into how long the vaccine-created immunity would last. Recent studies by Pfizer and Moderna suggest that their COVID-19 shots remain effective for at least 6 months.
“With a lot of vaccines, we understand that at some point we need to boost, whether it’s 9 months, 12 months. And we’re preparing for that,” Kessler said.
The companies behind the three COVID-19 vaccines that can currently be used in the United States have said they are pursuing additional traits.
“A third dose will probably be needed, between 6 and 12 months. And from there. There will be an annual revaccination. But all of that has to be confirmed,” Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, organized the event on Thursday. by CVS Health.
In February, Pfizer announced that it would launch a study with its German partners BioNTech to examine a third dose of its vaccine, administered 6 to 12 months after participants completed their first two doses. Modern announced its plans to test a new additional boost in late January.
“We believe that especially high-risk people should get a boost in the fall and we want to make sure we have the best possible boost,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday, adding that expects a “market boost” as governments work to achieve booster doses.
The National Institutes of Health also announced in late March that it would launch early trials on a modified version of the Modern vaccine to target the B.1.351 virus variant first detected in South Africa. Pfizer is working on a potential version of its vaccine for B.1.351, although the drug maker said earlier this month that its shots appeared to be very effective against the mutant strain.
Johnson & Johnson had been actively recruiting for their “ENSEMBLE 2” study to evaluate a two-dose regimen rather than their current single vaccine. But the company has halted trials due to concerns about the rare clotting events currently being investigated by the CDC and the FDA.
Data from all three trials will need to be reviewed by the FDA, which established updated guidelines to authorize additional doses of vaccines earlier this year. Even small adjustments to future generations of COVID-19 vaccines will need to be supported in some clinical research, albeit in trials smaller than the large number of people needed to test the initial doses.
“Probably, after doing it three or four times, we will examine everything and, if everything seems consistent, we could move further towards the flu-like model,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biological Assessment. the FDA and Investigation said in February.
But finding room for booster doses can be tricky. The Government Accountability Office warned this week that the use of the Defense Production Act to prioritize COVID-19 vaccine production has reduced the capacity of other critical drugs, including the seasonal flu vaccine.
Making the next round of dosing for Americans could also further delay a global vaccination effort that is already facing what WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described them as “severe supply restrictions.”
Although the United States has already administered nearly 200 million doses, announcing nearly 1 in 2 adults with at least one shot, the World Health Organization warned Wednesday that less than 0.2% of the global supply of vaccines had reached low-income countries.
“Global manufacturing capacity and supply chains have not been enough to deliver vaccines quickly and equitably where they are most needed. More funding is needed, but that’s only part of the solution. Money doesn’t help if there are no vaccines to buy “. Said Ghebreyesus.