A booster dose is safe and effective at warding off the virus and new variants, according to the company
An Israeli woman receives a third shot of a Covid-19 vaccine in Tel Aviv, Israel. Picture: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN
“Real-world data from Israel and the US suggest that rates of breakthrough infections are rising faster in individuals who were vaccinated earlier,” Pfizer said in its presentation, which was posted on the FDA website on Wednesday. The drug giant is partnering with Germany’s BioNTech to make the shots.
Pfizer shares rose 0.4% in New York. BioNTech’s American depositary receipts rose 3.2%. Shares of Moderna, the other maker of a US-cleared messenger RNA vaccine, rose 0.3%.According to a meeting agenda the FDA posted on its website, the Friday panel meeting will include presentations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FDA staff, researchers from Israel and the UK, along with Pfizer.
The staff’s 23-page briefing paper noted that the likely benefit of a booster shot would depend on how much the third shot reduces disease relative to the first two. If the first two shots are still highly effective, then the efficacy of the booster shot “is likely to be more limited”, the staff said. Overall data in the US indicate that the first two shots of the vaccine still protect against severe disease and death, the staff said.
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