Covid-19 roundup: Pfiz­er read­ies FDA ap­pli­ca­tion for fourth dose to deal with Omi­cron

As hos­pi­tal­iza­tions be­gin to rise again in the UK, Pfiz­er CEO Al­bert Bourla told CN­BC yes­ter­day that the com­pa­ny will soon sub­mit an ap­pli­ca­tion of da­ta to FDA on the need for a fourth dose of the com­pa­ny’s Covid-19 vac­cine for all Amer­i­cans.

“Clear­ly there is a need in the Omi­cron en­vi­ron­ment,” Bourla said. “The da­ta show the im­mune pro­tec­tion against Omi­cron is very good af­ter 3 dos­es, but when it comes against hos­pi­tal­iza­tion or death, not as good, but pret­ty good. But it doesn’t last. Af­ter 3, 4 months it starts wan­ing. That’s Omi­cron on­ly. Clear­ly, the risk when you have wan­ing im­mune re­spons­es is high­er for peo­ple if they are old­er or un­der­ly­ing con­di­tions but the im­mune re­sponse is wan­ing for all.”

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