[News] Pfizer indicates that a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is 'probably' necessary

[#Steeven.™]

So that the immunization is complete.

The CEO of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Albert Bourla, assured that "probably" a third booster dose of the vaccine against covid-19 will be necessary within 12 months after being fully vaccinated, so that the immunization is complete.

"It is extremely important to suppress the group of people who may be susceptible to the virus," Bourla told CNBC television in a statement released Thursday.

The executive also indicated that these doses will be an important tool to fight against the variants of the covid that have proven to be more contagious.

So far, it is unknown for how long vaccines protect against covid-19, given the short duration of this product.

Pfizer recently reported that its Covid-19 vaccine was more than 91% effective against the virus and more than 95% effective against severe symptoms of the disease and that this protection was maintained for at least six months after receiving the first dose.

Likewise, people who receive Moderna's covid-19 vaccine, which is similar in composition to Pfizer's, continue to show high levels of antibodies six months after the second dose, according to a study published in the scientific journal The New England Journal of Medicine. earlier this month.

The study released by Pfizer showed that its vaccine appears to work similarly against the majority variant of the virus in South Africa, one of the countries where the product was tested.

Pharmaceutical Pfizer announced on February 26 that it would study the possibility of injecting a third dose into vaccinated people to try to strengthen protection against the most aggressive variants of the coronavirus.

Bourla said then that with this third dose the antibody response could be strengthened between 10 and 20 times and stressed that just as people are vaccinated annually against the flu, they will have to do it against covid-19 to be protected.

This new study is aimed at two age groups, people between 65 and 85 years and those between 18 and 55 and will be chosen from the group that already participated in the first trials carried out by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer in cooperation with BioNTech.

The University of Oxford has started a new clinical study to determine if vaccine doses can be combined and an adequate immune response can be obtained with two doses regardless of the manufacturer.

The researchers already have the participation of the vaccine from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and the American candidate Novavax.