Drugmaker Pfizer will seek an emergency use authorization for a booster shot of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Mikael Dolsten, the president of worldwide research, development, and medical at Pfizer, told the Associated Press on Thursday the company would pursue authorization for a third dose of the vaccines from the Food and Drug Administration in August.
Antibodies from COVID-19 vaccines may dissipate over time, possibly necessitating a booster shot.
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Dolsten said early data from Pfizer’s booster study found that a third shot increased antibody levels 5-to-10 fold. Additionally, data from Britain and Israel shows the Pfizer vaccine “neutralizes the delta variant very well,” he said.
If Pfizer receives the EUA for a third dose, it wouldn’t mean people could immediately receive booster shots of the vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would have to decide if third shots are warranted, given how many Americans have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine.
“The vaccines were designed to keep us out of the hospital,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, to the Associated Press. Getting people a third dose of the vaccine would be “a huge effort while we are at the moment striving to get people the first dose.”
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At present, less than 48% of the entire U.S. population is fully vaccinated.
