NEW YORK: Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech said today that their Omicron-adapted Covid-19 vaccine booster generated a strong immune response against the currently circulating BA.5 and the BA.4 subvariants.
The companies said data from a trial in adult patients showed that the booster dose led to a substantial increase in neutralizing antibody levels against the BA.4 or BA.5 variants.
Omicron-tailored shots made by Pfizer and Moderna Inc have already been greenlit by several countries, including in the US for adults and, more recently, for children as young as 5 years.
But, that US authorisation was based on the safety and effectiveness of the original vaccine, and not the BA.4 or BA.5-tailored shots.
The preliminary data today also suggested that the bivalent vaccine was likely to provide better protection against the Omicron subvariants than the original vaccine.