As infections and deaths continue to surge in some countries so does the demand for unfettered access to the technologies behind COVID-19 vaccines and other medical products. In seeking that access, several countries are stressing the need to develop their own manufacturing capacity as they look beyond the current pandemic.
LONDON – The U.K. is launching a trial to investigate the potential use of seven different COVID-19 vaccines as boosters, to provide safety and immunogenicity data for if/when immune responses to initial vaccination wane and a revaccination campaign is needed later in the year. The trial, at 18 sites across the country, will recruit 2,886 participants who previously received two doses of either Astrazeneca plc or Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE’s COVID-19 vaccines.
Seychelles has seen rising numbers of COVID-19 cases despite 61% of its population being fully vaccinated as of May 8, calling into question the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines used by the island nation.
LONDON – Delaying the second dose of Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine significantly increases the antibody response in people ages 80 to 99, compared to the approved schedule of two doses three weeks apart, according to the latest data from the U.K. coronavirus immunology consortium.
More than 150 U.S. patents could be at stake if the World Trade Organization (WTO) were to adopt an intellectual property waiver as originally proposed by India and South Africa.
LONDON – Initial results from the U.K. randomized trial assessing mixed COVID-19 vaccine schedules show there is a significant increase in systemic side effects with one dose of Astrazeneca plc’s and one of Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE’s vaccines (in either order), compared to receiving two doses of the same vaccine.
It came as no surprise May 12 that the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 14-0, with one recusal, to recommend the use of Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty (tozinameran), in 12- to 15-year-olds following the FDA’s decision earlier this week to expand the vaccine’s emergency use authorization (EUA) to that age group.
In an open letter to Pfizer Inc. employees, the company’s CEO, Albert Bourla, provided some insight about why some countries don’t have COVID-19 vaccines and others have a surplus. It has nothing to do with intellectual property (IP), or even price, Bourla said.
A cautious optimism pervaded the March 11 Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee update on COVID-19, with witnesses and lawmakers alike welcoming the continuing decline of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S.
As expected, the FDA has expanded emergency use authorization (EUA) for Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty (tozinameran), to include adolescents 12 through 15 years of age, marking what Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock called "a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic."
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