Pfizer, Moderna COVID booster shots for new strains gets approval from CDC panel, to be available in the US soon
Covid-19 vaccine to protect against the potentially serious outcomes of Covid-19 illness this fall and winter." Bloomberg reported, the statement further added, “Updated Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna will be available later this week." Cohen’s final green light means the shots can be administered across the US. The Food and Drug Administration has already approved them. Distribution of these boosters could be especially helpful for Pfizer, which has struggled amid a sharp decline in sales of its Covid vaccine and antivirals after a surge during the pandemic.
The company is waiting to see how purchases of both products perform this quarter before deciding on cost-cutting measures. The BA.2.86 strain, known as Pirola, and EG.5 variant, dubbed Eris, are gaining ground. Hospitalizations are also rising for the first time this year, though they are still less frequent than in previous waves.
In June, US health officials told drugmakers to reformulate their boosters in time for the fall season that would protect against another subvariant, the XBB.1.5, that accounted for some 40% of infections at the time. But the new Eris strain has since become the most widely circulating variant, and the highly mutated Pirola is also spreading, raising questions about how effective the new boosters will be. Moderna said earlier this month that its booster increased antibodies to Pirola almost ninefold in a human clinical trial.
Pfizer said its vaccine elicited a “strong neutralizing antibody response" to the same strain in a pre-clinical study. Both companies said trials showed their products also offered some protection against Eris. Those early findings, and others showing that antibodies from prior infection and
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