Pfizer claims booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine protects against omicron variant

By Berkeley Lovelace Jr. -

A booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine provides strong protection against the omicron variant, the companies announced Wednesday.

A third dose of their vaccine provides a similar level of neutralizing antibodies against the omicron variant, comparable to two doses against the parent coronavirus and other variants that have emerged, they reported.

[Fauci affirms that the omicron variant of COVID-19 "surely" does not produce a more serious disease than delta]

Blood samples from those who received only the primary series of the vaccine showed, on average, a 25-fold decrease in antibodies against the new variant, indicating that two doses of the vaccine may not be sufficient to protect against omicron infection.

"Many vaccines require boosters," says a doctor of Pfizer's request for a booster

Nov. 10, 202102: 48

As the highly mutated omicron variant, first identified in South Africa, spreads around the world, scientists are racing to determine whether available vaccines will work against it.

The Pfizer-BioNTech results are the first announced by vaccine manufacturers.

On Tuesday, a South African research institute also released laboratory results on the behavior of Pfizer's vaccine against omicron, showing an approximately 40-fold reduction in vaccine-induced antibodies that could neutralize the new variant.

However, that study did not look at booster shots.

[The omicron variant of COVID-19 triggers the demand for vaccines in the US and pharmacies cannot keep up]

Pfizer-BioNTech has previously said it could develop a specific vaccine for the variant in six weeks and ship the initial batches within 100 days.

Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are expected to release laboratory results for the omicron variant in the coming days.

Academic research institutions are also studying the efficacy of the omicron vaccine.