WASHINGTON, United States — Pfizer and BioNTech have begun enrollment for a clinical trial to test the safety and immune response of their Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine in adults aged up to 55, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla has previously said that the pharmaceutical giant could be ready to file for regulatory approval of the shot by March.
Ugur Sahin, CEO of the German biotech company BioNTech added that the protection of the original vaccine against mild and moderate Covid appeared to wane more rapidly against Omicron. A spokesperson for Pfizer said that it did not include people older than 55 because the goal of the study was to examine the immune response of participants dosed, rather than estimate vaccine efficacy.
The second will be people who got three doses of the current vaccine 90-180 days prior to the study and will receive either another dose of the original shot or an Omicron-specific vaccine. The third and final group are people who have never previously received a Covid vaccine, and will receive three doses of the Omicron-specific vaccine.
Why would they spend so much money and time creating another one if the one they are using is supposedly working? This is nonsense.