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Early BioNTech, Pfizer data suggests boosters may protect against Omicron infection

Published 12/08/2021, 07:16 AM
Updated 12/08/2021, 01:58 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

By Ludwig Burger and Michael Erman

(Reuters) -BioNTech and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) said on Wednesday a three-shot course of their COVID-19 vaccine was able to neutralise the new Omicron variant in a laboratory test, an early signal that booster shots could be key to protection against infection from the newly identified variant.

The German and U.S. companies said two doses of their vaccine resulted in significantly lower neutralising antibodies but could still be protective against severe disease.

"The first line of defence, with two doses of vaccination, might be compromised and three doses of vaccination are required to restore protection," BioNTech Chief Medical Officer Ozlem Tuereci said at a press conference.

The companies also said they could deliver an upgraded vaccine targeted specifically at the Omicron variant in March 2022 if one is needed.

BioNTech and Pfizer are the first manufacturers of a COVID vaccine to issue an official update on the efficacy of their shot against Omicron.

In samples of blood taken around a month after the third shot the Omicron variant was neutralised about as effectively as two doses neutralised the original virus identified in China.

The Omicron variant, first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong last month, has triggered global alarm about another surge in infections. Cases have already been reported from Japan to the United States and across Europe.

"The new data from Pfizer on vaccine effectiveness against Omicron is encouraging," U.S. President Joe Biden tweeted on Wednesday. "Anyone who is eligible and has not been boosted should go get a booster today."

BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin suggested that countries might consider shortening the time period between second and third doses of the vaccine to combat the new variant.

He cited recent moves by countries including Britain to bring the third shot forward to three months after the second shot, from six months previously.

"We believe this is the right way to go particularly if the Omicron is now spreading further, to enable a better level of protection in the winter season," Sahin said.

Dr. Walter Orenstein, a professor at Vanderbilt and former director of the U.S. CDC's immunization programs, said he found the data encouraging because it suggests that the current vaccines are still usable against the Omicron.

"We may not have to change the vaccine," he said. "We may be able to get by with the current vaccine, at least for repression of severe disease."

OMICRON-SPECIFIC VACCINE

The World Health Organization classified Omicron on Nov. 26 as a "variant of concern" but said there was no evidence to support the need for new vaccines specifically designed to tackle the variant and its mutations.

Nevertheless, the companies said they would continue efforts to bring an Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine to market. Work started on Nov. 25.

They said their planned production of 4 billion doses of the Comirnaty vaccine in 2022 was not expected to change if an adapted vaccine was required. BioNTech said that even if an adapted vaccine was available in March, it would not be broadly available for some time, noting that perhaps 25 to 75 million doses of the new vaccine would be ready at first.

Pfizer scientist Kena Swanson said the company is considering also testing two doses of an Omicron-specific vaccine in currently unvaccinated people.

Pfizer and BioNTech's findings are broadly in line with a preliminary study published by researchers at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa on Tuesday, which said Omicron could partially evade protection from two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and suggested a third shot might help fend off infection.

Research on the new variant is still at an early stage. Laboratory (NYSE:LH) analysis at University Hospital Frankfurt in Germany found the ability to mount an antibody response to Omicron in people who had three shots was up to 37 times lower than the response to Delta.

Even so, two shots of the vaccine may still protect against severe disease, Pfizer and BioNTech said.

The vast majority of surface structures on the Omicron spike protein targeted by the T-cells, which typically emerge after vaccination, are not affected by Omicron's mutations, they said.

T-cells are the second pillar of an immune response, alongside antibodies, and are believed to prevent severe disease by attacking infected human cells.

© Reuters. A healthcare worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to a woman during an initiative to vaccinate people over 12 years old, in Lima, Peru December 6, 2021. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda

For their analysis, the two companies used a virus that was bio-engineered to have the hallmark mutations of Omicron, known as a pseudovirus, and blood was collected from subjects three weeks after a second vaccine dose or one month after a third.

There is no significant data yet on how vaccines from Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and other drugmakers hold up against the new variant but they are expected to release their own data within weeks.

Latest comments

There is always a new "shot" for a new variant. Politicians and big pharma are thankful for COVID.
Pro booster vax crowd, go home, you've had too many shots and you're not making sense anymore. I'll call you an uber ;o)
Reuters is complete fake news garbage
Oh ok. So the fed can go ahead and raise interest rates. Ok
lies on lies on lies...and who cares omicron= new common cold
No one cares. F your propaganda.
ahh busines is busines , next we need 4 shot.
who believes this baloney anymore
Vaccine to infinity and beyond. I see $$$$ 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑 to infinity and beyond just as Brandy Vaugh warned us about
Next month it will be another shot. If you don't die of covid no worries the shots will *******you
this is all about money 💰, that's all.
3 shots ? how about this...https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/two-israeli-doctors-infected-with-omicron-hospital-says-2021-11-30/
I will take my chance with getting Omicron.  No more Vacs for me.
Do you want a ventilator now ir later
Hilarious, especially when you consider the most vaccinated states have the highest case rates. Same with nations. Remember the variant? It didn't come from the un vaccinated.
🤣🤣🤣🤡
Why not? Cherry flavor made Coke and Pepsi a lot of money also! 😒
what a joke, these pharma companies are so corrupt
can I get like 10 shots and then I'm good for the next 2 years? The more the better, right? Shoot me up, I wanna be on that good pfizer ****
Wow big pharama has saved us again jack, rejoyce… 10 shots will only give u 10 reasons to go into a heavily crowded area for no reason
didn't they say something totally different yesterday
that is y I keep holding pfe stock for long term no matter what happens
No. Just..........NO!
Voo Doo science?
another variant, and we will need 4 doses. good business
Vaccines - One big shell game.
🤣🤣🤣
they are going to mil k us
You our governments and all these companies will rule the world by 2050
2030
And, the customer.
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