Pfiz­er pitch­es 4th Covid-19 vac­cine shot for el­der­ly de­spite mixed da­ta from Is­rael

The ball is now in the FDA’s court to de­cide whether to au­tho­rize a fourth dose of Pfiz­er and BioN­Tech’s Covid-19 vac­cine.

The two com­pa­nies have dis­patched an ap­pli­ca­tion to the agency for an emer­gency use au­tho­riza­tion of an ad­di­tion­al boost­er dose of the mR­NA shot among adults 65 years and old­er who have al­ready been boost­ed with any of the sanc­tioned Covid-19 vac­cines.

Pfiz­er CEO Al­bert Bourla has been talk­ing in re­cent days about the need he sees for a fourth dose “in the Omi­cron en­vi­ron­ment,” with pro­tec­tion wan­ing af­ter three or four months post-third jab. But the da­ta so far are gen­er­at­ing mixed re­views, as ex­perts ques­tion how mean­ing­ful a fourth dose is.

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