Prick, prick, prick. Promise not to get addicted to vaccines already.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced that they will begin clinical trials to test a new version of the vaccine specifically against the Omicron Covid-19 variant.
The company is planning to test the immune response generated by the Omicron-based vaccine as a 3rd injection in unvaccinated people and as a booster shot for people who have already received 2 doses of the original vaccine.
In addition, they also tested the effectiveness of the 4th dose in addition to the original dose and the 4th dose based on Omicron for people who had already received the 3rd dose of Pfizer/BioNTech in the previous 3 to 6 months.
In the meantime, the company plans to study the safety and tolerance of injections to more than 1,400 people enrolled in the trial.
Previously, Pfizer stated the original 2 doses were insufficient in protecting against Omicron variant infection and protection against hospitalization and death may be reduced.
However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 3 doses of mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer/BioNTech have provided 90% protection against hospitalization due to Covid-19.
Meanwhile, BioNTech chief executive Ugur Sahin said regulators may not require Omicron -based vaccine testing in humans as it and Pfizer have created versions of the vaccine ready to target earlier Alpha and Delta variants with clinical trials continuing.
