Despite the rush of well-known vaccine companies, along with most countries of the world, to give a third booster dose against novel coronavirusHowever, reality never bodes well.
Experts have warned World Health OrganizationOn Tuesday, they stressed that only giving booster vaccine doses is not a viable strategy in confronting emerging mutant, and they called for new vaccines that better protect against transmission.
The technical advisory committee on COVID-19 at the World Health Organization said in a statement that there is a need to develop highly effective COVID-19 vaccines to prevent infection, transmission, acute forms of infection and death.
Beginning with Pfizer
These developments came after Pfizer revealed the production of a vaccine targeting the mutated strain by next March.
The company’s chief executive, Albert Borla, said on Monday that a vaccine was needed, and that his company could produce one, according to Archyde.com.
He also added that Pfizer and its partner Biontech are working on both a version of the vaccine targeting Omicron and on another that includes both the previous vaccine and one that is resistant to the rapidly spreading strain.
“I think that’s the most likely possibility. We’re working on a lot of things as we speak,” Borla said, speaking at this year’s annual JPMorgan healthcare conference online.
Also, he reported that Pfizer may apply for approval by US regulatory agencies for a registered vaccine and may launch it as soon as, possibly next March.
Moderna is frustrated.. the third may not be enough
While Moderna CEO Stephan Bancel revealed in a frustrating statement that the effectiveness of booster vaccines against the Corona virus will likely decrease over time, and people may need a fourth dose in the fall to increase their protection.
He added that people who received their boosters last fall will likely get enough protection to get them during the winter, when new infections increase as people gather indoors to escape the cold, considering that the effectiveness of the boosters will likely decline over several months, similar to what happened with The first two doses, in a newspaper published by “CNBS” yesterday, Thursday.
The CEO of Moderna added that governments, including the United Kingdom and South Korea, are already requesting the doses and they are in preparation.
Moderna published preliminary data last month showing that the currently permitted 50-microgram booster increases infection-preventing antibodies from Omicron 37-fold, and the 100-mcg booster increased those antibodies 83-fold.
They finished their vaccinations.
While the former head of the vaccines working group in Britain had another opinion, with the development of the situation, he considered that Corona should be dealt with as an endemic virus similar to influenza, and ministers should end extensive vaccination campaigns after completing the campaigns related to booster doses.
Dr. Clive Dix also called for a rethink of the strategy to confront Corona in the United Kingdom, and the direction of an approach contrary to that that was followed in the past two years and coexistence with Corona as the “new normal”.
“Mass vaccination in the UK must end now,” said Dix.
Corona vaccines
It is noteworthy that the booster doses play an increasingly important role in public health strategies to control the virus, especially since the protection resulting from the original two doses received a strong blow due to the Omicron mutant.
These developments are reviving fears that the currently available anti-Corona vaccines will be unable to block new, highly spreadable mutants, according to Archyde.com.