Johannesburg- As South Africa continues to try and curb the fast spread of the recently identified variant, Omicron, BioNTech has revealed that a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine is needed to neutralise the variant.
According to BioNTech, more robust protection may be achieved by a third dose as data from additional studies of the companies indicate that a booster with the current Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech increases the antibody titers by 25-fold.
The companies’ preliminary data says a third dose provides a similar level of neutralising antibodies to Omicron as is observed after two doses against wild-type and other variants that emerged before Omicron.
These antibody levels are associated with high efficacy against both the wild-type virus and these variants.
A third dose also strongly increases CD8+ T cell levels against multiple spike protein epitopes which are considered to correlate with the protection against severe disease.
“Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron strain, it’s clear from these preliminary data that protection is improved with a third dose of our vaccine,” said Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer.
“Ensuring as many people as possible are fully vaccinated with the first two-dose series and a booster remains the best course of action to prevent the spread of Covid-19,” he added.
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