The German-American drug maker tandem BioNTech and Pfizer have announced the beginning of a clinical trial to analyse the safety and immune system response the omicron Covid-19 vaccine they have developed, British news portal The Guardian reports.
The companies said earlier this week that the trial will involve 1,420 people aged 18-55 in the US and South Africa.
Uğur Şahin, chief executive of the German biotech company BioNTech, noted in a statement that the protection of the original vaccine against mild and moderate Covid-19 appeared to wane more rapidly against Omicron.
Read also: WHO: Possible for pandemic in Europe to end with Omicron
Pfizer’s head of vaccine research, Kathrin Jansen, added that while current data showed that boosters against the original Covid-19 strain continued to protect against severe outcomes with Omicron, the company was acting out of caution.
«We recognise the need to be prepared in the event this protection wanes over time and to potentially help address Omicron and new variants in the future», the researcher explained, as quoted by The Guardian.
Omicron vaccine trial started by BioNTech and Pfizer
