White House COVID coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said a newly “updated” COVID-19 booster targeting omicron variants will likely be released and available to Americans over the age of 12 in a few weeks.
Pfizer and BioNTech have sought FDA approval for their modified bivalent COVID-19 booster.
Granted FDA clearance, the booster would be available by September for the fall booster campaign. It was created to specifically target the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
These variants make up the majority of new cases. Together, they comprised 90% of new COVID cases, most of which have not developed into a severe illness, according to osteopathic physician Joseph Mercola.
Pfizer’s booster reportedly proved effective during animal testing but has yet to be tested on humans. Its first clinical trial was set to start this month.
Vaccine development typically “takes five to 10 years, and sometimes longer, to assess whether the vaccine is safe and efficacious in clinical trials, complete the regulatory approval processes, and manufacture a sufficient quantity of vaccine doses for widespread distribution,” according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.
Research from this summer has shown that antibodies from the vaccines “decrease substantially within three months.”
This has caused some concern: if most people get their vaccine or boosters now, their vaccine- or booster-triggered immunity will likely wane by winter when a surge of COVID-19 cases is expected.
Dr. Katherine Poehling, a vaccine expert and pediatrician at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in North Carolina, told NBC that the ideal timing of the doses is not “clear-cut.”
Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said the company has scaled production and will be ready to distribute the booster immediately upon approval.
Earlier this summer, Pfizer announced a $3.2 billion deal to provide the U.S. government with 105 million doses of its vaccine.
While many companies saw revenue decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pfizer has profited, eliciting some criticism. After reporting first-quarter sales for 2022 at $26 billion, the company expects sales for the year to reach $32 billion.
Moderna is also expected to seek FDA approval for its own new bivalent vaccine soon.
