Pfizer: Booster protects against omicron

Pfizer said a booster dose of its COVID vaccine may offer protection against the new omicron variant, even as the initial two doses seem less effective.

By

National News

December 8, 2021 - 10:22 AM

Pharmacist Stephen Polley hands a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to a nursing student for distribution on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Pfizer said Wednesday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may offer important protection against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said that while two doses may not be protective enough to prevent infection, lab tests showed a booster increased by 25-fold people’s levels of virus-fighting antibodies against the omicron variant. 

Blood samples taken a month after a booster showed people harbored levels of omicron-neutralizing antibodies that were similar to amounts proven protective against earlier variants after two doses.

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