Pfizer Says New COVID Booster Works Better Than Old | WORLD

In one study, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech SE compared blood samples from 36 people over the age of 55 who received the bivalent booster with a control group of people over the age of 55 who received a fourth dose. of the original vaccine. A month later, levels of antibodies to the BA.4 and BA.5 variants were four times higher in people who received the bivalent vaccine than in people who received another dose of the original vaccine, the companies said.

Pfizer-BioNTech’s discovery contrasts sharply with recent results from two independent laboratories at Columbia University and Harvard University. Both teams reported in October that bivalent boosters made by Pfizer and rival Moderna Inc. did not appear to provide many incremental benefits over a fourth dose of the original vaccines, according to studies published on the bioRxiv.org prepress server.

Pfizer’s study, however, suggests that the bivalent vaccine “may induce a higher level of protection against omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 underlines than the parent vaccine,” the company said in its statement. The company shared the findings with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and said it plans to hand them over to regulators elsewhere soon.

Implications of the debate

Pfizer has not published a direct comparison of how the bivalent booster performed versus four doses of the original vaccine in adults under the age of 55. But he said the bivalent vaccine increased antibodies against the BA.4 and BA.5 variants by 9.5 times in the 18-55 age group compared to their pre-boost levels. In those over 55, it increased antibody levels 13.2 times. In comparison, a fourth dose of the original booster increased antibodies 2.9-fold in people over the age of 55.

It is unclear why various studies have produced results that seem divergent. All the studies are small and have not yet been published in scientific journals.

The debate on the results could have important implications. Both Harvard and Columbia studies suggest that the immune system’s response may be biased towards protection against the original version of the covid virus. If true, this is a potential problem that companies developing lure shots against future variants will need to try to overcome.

The launch of new bivalent boosters from Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech partnership started slowly in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that only about 26 million people have received them so far.