Pfizer and BioNTech began clinical trials for a specific COVID-19 vaccine for the Omicron variant.
Pfizer announced that the clinical study is to “evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of an Omicron-based vaccine.”
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Will the vaccine be for everybody?
Those involved in the clinical trial are adults 18 through 55 years. The study evaluates 1,420 participants. There will be three different examination groups. Read more about it here.
The hope is to create an Omicron specific vaccine that achieves a similar level of protection, as it did with earlier variants but with longer duration of protection.
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How is the vaccine being studied and tested?
The vaccine and its effectiveness will be examined in three cohorts.
- Participants already vaccinated with Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine will receive one or two doses of the Omicron-based vaccine.
- Participants with the two vaccines and the Pfizer booster will receive one dose of the Omicron-based vaccine.
- Non-vaccinated participants will receive three doses of the Omicron-based vaccine.
Omicron is the most contagious version of COVID-19 yet. Pfizer hopes to address this in a timely fashion as the pandemic moves fast.
Vaccines offer good protection against hospitalizations, severe illness, and death.
A booster shot strengthens those protections and improves the chances of avoiding greater symptoms.
Pfizer and BioNTech estimated production at four billion doses of the COVID-19m vaccine in 2022. If the new vaccine develops this year, both companies won’t change or reduce their capacity of production
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