Pfizer and BioNTech report high efficacy of Covid booster shot

This article is more than 12 months old

Oct 22, 2021 06:00 am

BERLIN: Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech yesterday said that data from a Phase III trial demonstrated high efficacy of a booster dose of their Covid-19 vaccine against the virus, including the Delta variant.

They said a trial of 10,000 participants aged 16 or older showed 95.6 per cent effectiveness against the diseases, during a period when the Delta strain was prevalent.

The study also found that the booster shot had a favourable safety profile.

Pfizer had said its two-shot vaccine's efficacy drops over time, citing a study that showed 84 per cent effectiveness from a peak of 96 per cent four months after a second dose. Some countries, including Singapore, had already gone ahead with plans to give booster doses.

The drugmakers said the median time between the second dose and the booster shot or the placebo in the study was around 11 months, adding that there were only five cases of Covid-19 in the booster group, compared with 109 cases in the group that received the placebo shot. - REUTERS