BioNTech Believes Third Dose Better Than Developing New Shots Against Variants

The German biotech firm, BioNTech expressed that it would be a much better strategy to repeat vaccine shots for the doses it developed with Pfizer as opposed to formulating new ones that are tailored for new variants.

Despite only being a two-shot vaccine, BioNTech said that offering a third jab would be a suitable response to the highly contagious Delta variant, and further strains that may arise.

In July, Pfizer and BioNTech sought authorization for a third dose from U.S. health regulators. However, this was widely met with criticism since there was not enough data to support the need for booster shots.

Quite recently, the U.S. has begun discussions of providing additional doses, particularly for people with compromised immune systems. Germany and France, on the other hand, have already set plans to roll out a third dose starting in September.

However, this comes into contention with the World Health Organization’s call to distribute doses to poorer nations instead to significantly push their vaccination campaigns.

Source: Reuters