A new drug that protects against the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant should be available by March, according to COVID-19 vaccine maker Pfizer.
The company is working with partner BioNTech to develop a shot that will combine its original vaccine with a drug that helps build immunity to the highly transmissible variant, Reuters has reported.
The company has enough manufacturing capacity to handle production of the new vaccine on a mass scale, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Monday at a healthcare conference. Bourla has previously predicted that most people will need a new vaccine dose by the fall of 2022 as the drug’s efficacy wanes over time, according to the news outlet. A redesign is needed, he said.
All three vaccines approved in the United States have been shown to be less effective in the face of omicron than earlier variants. Omicron’s evasion of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots has contributed to a steady rise in infections that have been predicted to peak in mid January, based on the experience of other countries that first weathered the variant.
Booster shots may raise the level of vaccine protection, drugmakers have reported. And the vaccines are all expected to continue to substantially lower the risk of severe COVID-19 illness and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
