A review issued Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says a third dose of Pfizer\u2019s two-dose COVID-19 vaccine boosts a person\u2019s immunity against the virus, but said the current regimen still provides enough protection against severe illness.<\/p>\n
The FDA is considering Pfizer\u2019s request to offer a third shot of its vaccine, which the drugmaker says is needed as its effectiveness wears off between six to eight months after the second dose. Pfizer submitted a preliminary study to the FDA that suggested a third dose of the vaccine given to more than 300 people boosted their immunity levels three to five times higher than after the earlier shots.<\/p>\n
Pfizer also cited a study from Israel, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, that showed infection rates were 11 times lower among people age 60 and older who received a third dose of the vaccine. About 1 million people took part in the study.<\/p>\n
Pfizer has applied for permission to offer a third dose as the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 has triggered a dramatic new surge of infections, hospitalizations and deaths around the world.<\/p>\n
But the FDA said in its review that recent studies \u201cindicate that currently US-licensed or authorized COVID-19 vaccines still afford protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. government drug regulator\u2019s vaccine advisory committee will meet Friday to discuss whether the agency should approve Pfizer\u2019s request. The committee\u2019s recommendation is non-binding, meaning the FDA could approve the third Pfizer dose even if the committee recommends against it.<\/p>\n
Both the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month recommended a third shot of the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine for some people with weakened immune systems.<\/p>\n
The FDA meeting will be held days after an international group of vaccine experts published an essay in The Lancet medical journal in opposition to providing booster shots of current vaccines to the general population.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Experts say recent studies show the current vaccines in use around the world continue to provide strong protection against the virus, including the delta variant, especially against severe illness and hospitalization.<\/p>\n
The authors include two key officials in the FDA\u2019s vaccine review office who are leaving their posts before the end of the year. The New York Times recently reported that Dr. Marian Gruber and Dr. Philip Krause are upset over the Biden administration\u2019s recent announcement that booster shots would be offered for some Americans beginning next month, well before the FDA had time to properly review the data.<\/p>\n
The authors suggest that modifying the vaccines to match the specific COVID-19 variants is a better approach than providing extra doses of the original vaccine.<\/p>\n
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, has called on wealthy nations to forgo COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for the rest of the year to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have more access to the vaccine.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: Voice of America<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A review issued Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says a third dose of Pfizer\u2019s two-dose COVID-19 vaccine boosts a person\u2019s immunity against the virus, but said the current regimen still provides enough protection against severe illnes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n