Pfizer said Friday that its updated COVID-19 booster may offer some protection against newly emerging omicron mutants even though it's not an exact match.
FILE – Ryan Dutton, an EMT from Rescue Inc., prepares shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccine during a vaccine clinic held by Rescue Inc. at Leland & Gray Middle and High School, in Townshend, Vt., on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. The updated COVID-19 boosters aren’t an exact match to the newest omicron mutants but Pfizer says lab tests suggest its shot may offer some cross-protection.
Americans have been reluctant to get the updated boosters rolled out by Pfizer and rival Moderna, doses tweaked to target the BA.5 omicron strain that until recently was the most common type. With relatives of BA.5 now on the rise, a question is how the new boosters will hold up. The immune response wasn’t as strong against this alphabet soup of newer mutants as it is against the BA.5 strain. But adults 55 and older experienced a nearly 9-fold jump in antibodies against BQ.1.1 a month after receiving the updated booster, according to a study from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the companies. That’s compared to a 2-fold rise in people who got another dose of the original vaccine.
The BA.5 variant was responsible for about 30% of new cases in the U.S. as of Nov. 12, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but two new variants have been crowding out the once-dominant strain in recent weeks. The BQ.1.1. variant now accounts for 24% of cases, up from 2% in early October and the close cousin BQ.1 accounts for 20% of cases.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Long Covid: Teen with long Covid misses two years of schoolHayden, 15, says his life 'completely changed' after he contracted Covid in December 2020.
Read more »
Pfizer/BioNTech's updated COVID shot shows strong response against BQ.1.1Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Friday their Omicron-tailored shot produced higher virus-neutralizing antibodies in older adults against the emerging subvariant BQ.1.1 than its original vaccine.
Read more »
Pfizer, Moderna researching rare side effect linked to COVID vaccinesWith a triple-threat virus sweeping across the country, pharmaceutical companies have launched their own clinical trials on COVID vaccines in young adults and t
Read more »
New Pfizer-BioNTech Covid Vaccine Is More Effective Than The Original, Study ShowsAn estimated 68% of Americans are fully vaccinated.
Read more »
Antimicrobial Resistance Is Growing Because of COVIDAntibiotics won’t work on the COVID virus, but in places like India, their overuse threatens to nullify their effects on other equally deadly pathogens
Read more »
Novavax's COVID-19 booster authorized in CanadaShares of Novavax Inc. undefined were up 2.4% in premarket trading on Friday after the company said its COVID-19 booster was authorized for adults in Canada...
Read more »