Third vaccine dose?

Efficacy of Pfizer’s (NYSE:PFE) coronavirus vaccine, which is pegged at 96%, declines an average of 6% every two months, according to the company, and effectiveness in groups like the elderly and immunocompromised diminishes even more quickly. As a result, the drugmaker is recommending a third dose of its vaccine that can “strongly" boost protection against the Delta variant. Preliminary data (that has yet to be peer-reviewed or published) even suggests that levels of antibodies from a third booster increases antibody levels five to 10 times higher over its two-dose shots.

Bigger picture: Other frontrunners in the global immunization drive – AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) – are yet to see the evidence to support the need for booster shots. The two take a similar approach in their COVID-19 vaccine technology, using viral vectors instead of the mRNA jabs produced by Pfizer and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA). “There are two dimensions to immunity – antibodies [which] decline over time, but the second, very important dimension of vaccination is the so-called T-cells. They tend to protect people against severe disease, but they also provide durability," AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot declared. “With the technology we use, we have very high production of T-cells. We’re hoping we can have a durable vaccine that protects for a long period of time."

While Pfizer intends to seek emergency use authorization for a third dose as soon as next month, the FDA and CDC currently feel that an additional dose is not necessary since Americans “who are fully vaccinated are protected from severe disease and death." US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy echoed the view this week, saying, “people do not need to go out and get a booster shot." Should the dose be approved by the FDA, the vaccine would either need to be amended or, if the vaccine were fully FDA approved, a third dose could be given off label.

Will it be the same formula? The July study conducted by Pfizer involved a third dose of its existing vaccine, but the drugmaker is also exploring whether to add an additional dose it has developed to target the Beta variant. Moderna is meanwhile testing three different booster strategies: a half-dose of the existing vaccine, an additional dose of a new vaccine that targets the Beta variant, and another dose that combines the two. Pfizer is expected to generate $33.5B in COVID-19 vaccine revenue in 2021 and Wall Street analysts have already priced boosters into their financial models for the company and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), which helped develop the vaccine with Pfizer.

Over in Israel: The country’s health ministry this week recommended booster shots for older adults and to those with weak immune systems, becoming one of the first nations in the world to formally approve a third dose of Pfizer’s vaccine. According to the ministry, a full course of the Pfizer vaccine was just 39% effective at preventing infections caused by the Delta variant, though the vaccine provided high levels of protection against hospitalization (92%) and severe illness (91%). Back in January, Israel struck a vaccines-for-data deal with Pfizer that promised to share vast troves of information from its highly digitized healthcare system in exchange for the continued flow of COVID-19 shots. (15 comments)

Third vaccine dose?

Efficacy of Pfizer’s (NYSE:PFE) coronavirus vaccine, which is pegged at 96%, declines an average of 6% every two months, according to the company, and effectiveness in groups like the elderly and immunocompromised diminishes even more quickly. As a result, the drugmaker is recommending a third dose of its vaccine that can “strongly" boost protection against the Delta variant. Preliminary data (that has yet to be peer-reviewed or published) even suggests that levels of antibodies from a third booster increases antibody levels five to 10 times higher over its two-dose shots.

Bigger picture: Other frontrunners in the global immunization drive – AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) – are yet to see the evidence to support the need for booster shots. The two take a similar approach in their COVID-19 vaccine technology, using viral vectors instead of the mRNA jabs produced by Pfizer and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA). “There are two dimensions to immunity – antibodies [which] decline over time, but the second, very important dimension of vaccination is the so-called T-cells. They tend to protect people against severe disease, but they also provide durability," AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot declared. “With the technology we use, we have very high production of T-cells. We’re hoping we can have a durable vaccine that protects for a long period of time."

While Pfizer intends to seek emergency use authorization for a third dose as soon as next month, the FDA and CDC currently feel that an additional dose is not necessary since Americans “who are fully vaccinated are protected from severe disease and death." US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy echoed the view this week, saying, “people do not need to go out and get a booster shot." Should the dose be approved by the FDA, the vaccine would either need to be amended or, if the vaccine were fully FDA approved, a third dose could be given off label.

Will it be the same formula? The July study conducted by Pfizer involved a third dose of its existing vaccine, but the drugmaker is also exploring whether to add an additional dose it has developed to target the Beta variant. Moderna is meanwhile testing three different booster strategies: a half-dose of the existing vaccine, an additional dose of a new vaccine that targets the Beta variant, and another dose that combines the two. Pfizer is expected to generate $33.5B in COVID-19 vaccine revenue in 2021 and Wall Street analysts have already priced boosters into their financial models for the company and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), which helped develop the vaccine with Pfizer.

Over in Israel: The country’s health ministry this week recommended booster shots for older adults and to those with weak immune systems, becoming one of the first nations in the world to formally approve a third dose of Pfizer’s vaccine. According to the ministry, a full course of the Pfizer vaccine was just 39% effective at preventing infections caused by the Delta variant, though the vaccine provided high levels of protection against hospitalization (92%) and severe illness (91%). Back in January, Israel struck a vaccines-for-data deal with Pfizer that promised to share vast troves of information from its highly digitized healthcare system in exchange for the continued flow of COVID-19 shots. (15 comments)

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Comments

Don Bruno,

The headlines just keep pouring in…

159 Dead, 593 Hospitalized in Illinois Breakthrough COVID Cases

27 fully vaccinated people have died in Tennessee,

health department says 

More Than 5,100 Breakthrough COVID Cases Reported in Mass.;

at Least 80 Have Died

Report: Vaccinated Comprise 75% of Coronavirus Infections in Singapore

Over One Quarter of Coronavirus Cases in LA County Are Among Fully Vaccinated

Yes, covid vaccines are spreading variants

New data suggests that fully vaccinated individuals are not just contracting COVID, but could be carrying higher levels of the virus than previously understood and facilitating the spread, my NBC news colleagues are reporting.

Vaccinated people quickly went from being the “solution" to now part of the “problem"

Do these vaccines work?

Death rate from variant COVID virus six times higher for vaccinated than unvaccinated, UK health data show…