Pfizer expects its COVID-19 vaccine to be effective against the omicron variant, an executive said, and data on how well it protects should be available within two to three weeks.
“We do not expect there to be a significant drop in effectiveness,” Ralf Rene Reinert, vice president of vaccines for international developed markets, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. But again, this is speculation. We will check this. We will have the data in the next few weeks ”.
A growing number of companies and public health officials have attempted to reassure the public about vaccines, even as scientists are quick to answer unanswered questions about the severity, transmissibility, and potential ability of the omicron variant to evade current treatments. .
The number of clustered mutations in the variant’s spike protein, which the virus uses to make its way into cells, has fueled concerns around the world.
Pfizer has already started work on new versions of its vaccine twice, with the appearance of the beta and delta variants, and both times it concluded that the original vaccine provided good protection, Reinert said. Now its scientists will assess whether that is the case with the omicron variant.
“It’s not that we’re starting from scratch,” Reinert said. “We know what we have to do”.
In the meantime, it’s important to continue the booster program, Reinert said. Pfizer is conducting tests to see if antibodies in the blood of vaccinated people can neutralize the virus, including when it analyzes efficacy data to look for cases of vaccinated people infected with the omicron variant, he said.
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