New data on the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 shows that its recipients need a booster shot after half a year to maintain its effectiveness against the virus, including the Delta variant, according to company documents released by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th September, 2021) New data on the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 shows that its recipients need a booster shot after half a year to maintain its effectiveness against the virus, including the Delta variant, according to company documents released by the food and Drug Administration on Wednesday.
"The totality of the available data supports the public health need for a booster (third) dose of BNT162b2 at approximately six months after the second dose of BNT162b2 for individuals 16 years of age and older," Pfizer's executive summary of the documents as released by the FDA said.
A retrospective cohort study conducted at Kaiser Permanente Southern California suggested that the observed erosion in vaccine effectiveness was primarily due to waning effectiveness rather than due to Delta increased transmissibility, the study revealed.
"Recent data from Israel and the United States in the context of the Delta Variant of Concern (VOC) predominant circulation suggest that vaccine protection against COVID-19 infection wanes approximately six to eight months following the second dose," the Pfizer study concluded.
On Friday, the FDA's independent Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is scheduled to review the latest data on potential booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine. It will then vote on whether a booster dose is safe enough for widespread use and whether it is necessary and effective at boosting levels of protection against the virus.
