He covers the Food and Drug Administration, with a special focus on Covid vaccines, prescription drug pricing and health care. Both shots are bivalent, meaning they target omicron's BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants alongside the original Covid strain. The original vaccines taught the immune system to produce long-lasting T cells against the virus, which helps reduce a persons risk of severe disease. A recent study found that the bivalent COVID-19 boosters produce neutralizing antibodies against Omicron subvariant XBB. But influenza is circulating now in the community. Virtual Press conference on global health issues transcript - 4 January 2023. Berkeley Lovelace Jr. is a health and medical reporter for NBC News. While the original mRNA coronavirus vaccines have proven effective at preventing death and severe disease from COVID-19, breakthrough infections and reinfections have become more common in the face of an evolving virus. Learn about SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, what you can do to stay safe and prevent the spread, and our scientific efforts to help bring an end to the current global health crisis. updated clinical trial data showing that the bivalent boosters safety and tolerability in human adults remained favorable and similar to its original COVID-19 vaccine. As of mid-January 2023, the XBB.1.5 subvariant is responsible for nearly half of all COVID-19 cases in the United States. A new model from United Kingdom researchers suggests that the COVID-19 booster shot could provide about 85% more protection against severe COVID-19 symptoms. So far, it appears that the bivalent boosters may provide protection against XBB.1.5 as well. A booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (BNT162b2) against SARS-CoV-2 after an initial two doses of either the CoronaVac . According to Hafiz, it's possible that at-risk people who get it may not get seriously ill. We still have hundreds of deaths from COVID every day, so we should not let the small improvement in severity be a cause to let our guard down. Pfizer vaccine: Protection against Omicron coronavirus variant - CNN That said, even if most of those illnesses aren't severe enough to put people in the hospital, it doesn't mean we can stop worrying about COVID. Loafman agreed that the trend with new variants seems to be that they're infecting people better, but not necessarily making them sicker. Neither study, however, looked at the effects of getting two doses of the bivalent boosters. This release contains forward-looking information about Pfizers efforts to combat COVID-19, the collaboration between BioNTech and Pfizer to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine program, and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, also known as COMIRNATY (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) (BNT162b2) (including a study evaluating two Omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccine candidates: one monovalent and the other bivalent, a combination of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and a vaccine candidate targeting the Omicron variant of concern, planned regulatory submissions, qualitative assessments of available data, potential benefits, expectations for clinical trials, potential regulatory submissions, the anticipated timing of data readouts, regulatory submissions, regulatory approvals or authorizations and anticipated manufacturing, distribution and supply) involving substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Some health experts have suggested that more time between boostersup to six monthsmight be preferred. Federal health officials say both shots will serve as a desperately needed layer of protection for the coming months, as the weather turns colder and immunity from previous vaccines wanes. These results are being shared with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) in advance of upcoming discussions with the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) on June 28 and with the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) on June 30. Researchers behind the NEJM paper analyzed data from vaccinated and boosted people enrolled in the trials for the original Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, who received a fourth dose of the original vaccine, and another group that received three doses of the original vaccine and a fourth dose of the bivalent vaccine. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And he hopes that the periodic COVID surges will be a bit more predictable, as flu season is now, so that people can receive a booster right before an expected surge, gaining short-term protection against infection when it's needed most. Half of the vaccine targets the original strain, and the other half targets the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariant lineages, which are predicted to continue circulating this fall and winter. Pfizer said preliminary lab studies showed that both the updated shots also provided protection against BA.4 and BA.5, the Omicron subvariants that are spreading in the U.S. and expected to become . In the real-world CDC data, researchers show that the bivalent booster is reducing COVID-19 among those who receive it, and that protection from disease against the newest variants is similar to that against the BA.5 variant.