Pfizer says it is planning to seek authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot.
If scientists discover that immunity to the coronavirus starts to wane months or years after vaccination, a booster shot could be deployed., Pfizer’s chief scientific officer, said that early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five- to tenfold after a third dose, compared with their second dose months earlier.
The company plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization of a third dose in August, he said.Dolsten pointed to data from Britain and Israel showing the Pfizer vaccine “neutralizes the Delta variant very well.” The assumption, he said, is that when antibody levels drop low enough, the virus could cause a mild infection before the immune system kicks back in.