Pfizer to seek FDA authorization for COVID-19 vaccine booster shot


Pfizer plans on asking the Food and Drug Administration next month for emergency authorization of a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, the company told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Early data from its booster study suggests that after a third shot, antibody levels jump five- to 10-fold, compared to the second dose given months earlier, Pfizer's Dr. Mikael Dolsten said. He added that data from Britain and Israel shows the vaccine "neutralizes" the highly contagious Delta variant "very well." The Delta variant now accounts for more than 50 percent of all new infections in the United States.
Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told AP that even if the authorization is granted by the FDA, public health officials will still have to weigh whether booster shots are necessary, since millions of Americans have protection due to their first two doses. The COVID-19 vaccines "were designed to keep us out of the hospital," he said, and it would be "a huge effort" to get people their third dose "while we are at the moment striving to get people the first dose." Currently, 48 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
The IDF's manpower problem
The Explainer Israeli military's shortage of up to 12,000 troops results in call-up for tens of thousands of reservists
-
Quiz of The Week: 16 – 22 August
Quiz Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
Can Soho House get its edge back?
Talking Point The private members' club has lost its exclusive appeal – but a £2 billion buy-out could offer a fresh start
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreak
Speed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agency
Speed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Cytomegalovirus can cause permanent birth defects
The Explainer The virus can show no symptoms in adults
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year high
Speed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
speed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
Speed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sick
speed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots