On Tuesday, January 25, 2022, Pfizer Inc PFE.N and BioNTech SE informed that the clinical trial to test a new version of their vaccines, especially against the new strain of novel coronavirus called Omicron, has started. It has also been asserted that the clinical trial of the vaccines could elude some of the safety provided by the original two-dose vaccine regimen.
As per the reports, the companies has planned to test the immune response of the vaccine based on the Omicron variant. It would be tested on both as a three-shot regimen in the people who are unvaccinated and also as a booster shot for people who have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus with the two doses of their original vaccine.
The people who have received the third dose of the Pfizer/BioBTech vaccine three to six months earlier have also been used to process the criminal trial for a fourth dose of the current vaccine against the fourth dose of the Omicron-based vaccine.
In the clinical test, it would be studied by the company how the safety could be ensured by the vaccine against the variant and how the shots of the vaccine could tolerate it as more than 1,400 people who will be enrolled in the trial.
As per the statement of Pfizer’s head of vaccine research and development, Kathrin Jansen,” The current and real-world data presented that the boosters would provide the high level of protection against the novel coronavirus and also reduce the chances of getting hospitalized. Moreover, we understand the need to get ready in the event as the new variant could wane our efforts”.
Further, BioNTech asserted that by the end of March, it would not be possible to launch the vaccine against the Omicron as the data required for the clinical trial is great, and regulators are making it more efficient.
Pfizer also claimed that two doses of the original vaccine could not be effective against Omicron, and it might not protect from deaths and hospitalizations.
However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asserted that the third dose of an mRNA vaccine could provide 90 percent protection against hospitalization due to the novel coronavirus.
As per the Isreal study, the fourth dose of the booster shots of the mRNA vaccine boosted antibodies but not enough against the Omicron variants.