U.S. health regulators could approve a third Covid-19 shot for adults beginning at least six months after full vaccination, instead of the previously announced eight-month gap, the Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 25.
A new study may help explain why mRNA vaccines by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are more effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths than they are at preventing infection. In another study, preliminary data suggests certain cancer drugs may help protect patients with malignancies from being infected with the new coronavirus.
More studies into vaccinated populations show that although antibody responses drop months after vaccination against Covid-19, they still dramatically protect against severe disease and hospitalization. Studies are also continuing on the value and efficacy of booster shots, particularly against the Delta variant.
Formal U.S approval of the Pfizer Inc./BioNTech SE Covid-19 vaccine will make it nearly impossible to successfully challenge mandates by employers, legal experts said.
The United States could get Covid-19 under control by early 2022, with potential wider vaccine approvals coming in the weeks ahead, Dr. Anthony Fauci said one day after Pfizer won wider FDA approval for the company’s novel coronavirus shot on Aug. 23.
New York City will require public school teachers and staff to get vaccinated against Covid-19, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Aug. 23, part of a push to get more residents inoculated and slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty full approval.
A third dose of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine significantly improved protection from infection and serious illness among people aged 60 and older in Israel compared with those who received two shots, findings published by the Health Ministry showed on Aug. 22.
A British public health study found that protection from either of the two most commonly used Covid-19 vaccines against the prevalent Delta variant of the coronavirus weakens within three months.
Pfizer Inc. and the company’s German partner BioNTech SE submitted to U.S. regulators the initial data from an early-stage trial toward seeking authorization of a booster dose of their Covid-19 vaccine, the drugmakers said on Aug. 16.
