US FDA to authorize 3rd dose of Pfizer COVID-19 jab for older Americans – Bloomberg
FILE PHOTO: A health worker draws a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine from a vial during a vaccination event hosted by Miami – Dade County and Miami Heat, at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., August 5, 2021. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will authorize a booster dose of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 65 and older and some high-risk Americans, a Bloomberg News reporter said in a tweet.
An FDA spokesperson declined to comment.
In July, Pfizer Inc bared its plans to ask U.S. regulators to authorize a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, based on evidence of greater risk of reinfection six months after inoculation and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said the eported dip in the vaccine’s effectiveness in Israel was mostly due to infections in people who had been vaccinated in January or February.
Israel’s health ministry said vaccine effectiveness in preventing both infection and symptomatic disease fell to 64% in June.
“The Pfizer vaccine is highly active against the Delta variant,” Dolsten said in a previous interview. But after six months, he said, “there likely is the risk of reinfection as antibodies, as predicted, wane.”
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