NEW YORK: Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said on Tuesday they started a clinical trial to test a new version of their vaccine specifically designed to target the COVID-19 omicron variant, which has eluded some of the protection provided by the original two-dose vaccine regimen.
The companies plan to test the immune response generated by the omicron-based vaccine both as a three-shot regimen in unvaccinated people and as a booster shot for people who already received two doses of their original vaccine.
They are also testing a fourth dose of the current vaccine against a fourth dose of the omicron-based vaccine in people who received their third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine three to six months earlier.
The companies plan to study the safety and tolerability of the shots in the more than 1,400 people who will be enrolled in the trial.
“While current research and real-world data show that boosters continue to provide a high level of protection against severe disease and hospitalization with omicron, we recognize 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,” Pfizer’s head of vaccine research and development, Kathrin Jansen, said in a statement.
Pfizer has said that a two-dose regimen of the original vaccine may not be sufficient to protect against infection from the omicron variant, and that protection against hospitalizations and deaths may be waning.
Still, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a third dose of an mRNA vaccine like the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has provided 90 percent protection against hospitalization due to COVID-19.
Some countries have already started offering additional booster doses, but a recent study from Israel showed that while a fourth dose of an mRNA vaccine boosted antibodies, the level was not high enough to prevent infection by the omicron variant.
BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Reuters in November that regulators would not likely require testing of an omicron-based vaccine on humans because it and Pfizer had already created versions of their established vaccine to target the earlier Alpha and Delta variants, with clinical trials continuing.
However, the debate appears to have shifted as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a statement on Friday that international regulators now preferred clinical studies to be carried out before approval of a new vaccine.
These studies should show that neutralising antibodies in the blood of participants are superior to those elicited by current vaccines. Another desired feature of an upgraded vaccine would be for it to also protect against other variants of concern, the EMA said.
The omicron variant has replaced the Delta variant as the dominant lineage in many parts of the world and omicron itself is now splitting into different subforms, one of which, BA2, is causing particular concern.
Pfizer and BioNTech launch trial of omicron-targeted COVID-19 vaccine
https://arab.news/j5nyt
Pfizer and BioNTech launch trial of omicron-targeted COVID-19 vaccine
- The companies plan to study the safety and tolerability of the shots in the more than 1,400 people who will be enrolled in the trial
Rescuers search for missing sailors after US sinks Iranian warship off Sri Lanka
- US submarine attack stretched battlefield beyond Middle East, furthest point since war began
- At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack, while about 60 remain unaccounted for
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan rescuers continued searching for dozens of missing sailors after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, as a second Iranian vessel sailed close to the island nation’s territorial waters on Thursday.
The Sri Lankan Navy has recovered at least 87 bodies and rescued 32 people after responding to a distress call on Wednesday morning from an Iranian frigate, the IRIS Dena, which was sunk by a torpedo fired by a US submarine.
A second Iranian vessel — reportedly carrying about 100 people onboard — was heading towards Sri Lanka’s territorial waters on Thursday, said Nalinda Jayatissa, media minister and Cabinet spokesperson.
“The government is taking necessary interventions to ensure the safety of those on board,” he told parliament.
“Sri Lanka is committed to international peace, particularly peace in the Indian Ocean. We are acting according to international law and on humanitarian grounds to safeguard regional stability.”
IRIS Dena, an Iranian vessel with a crew of about 180, was sailing in international waters as it returned from the International Fleet Review 2026, a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal, when it was torpedoed.
The strike was the first use by the US of a torpedo against an enemy ship in combat since the Second World War. Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, confirmed the sinking of the Iranian warship by an American submarine in the Indian Ocean, describing it as a “quiet death.”
The sinking of IRIS Dena came as the US and Israel continued to launch air strikes on Iran after killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian officials on Saturday, as Tehran responded with counterstrikes against US bases in the Gulf region.
The attack off Sri Lanka’s coast, thousands of kilometers away from Tehran, has stretched the battlefield beyond the Middle East, its furthest point since the war began. At least 17 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk since last weekend, according to US Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads the US military’s Central Command.
Authorities at the National Hospital in Galle told Arab News that the rescued Iranian sailors were “out of danger.” One of those rescued remained in the intensive care unit, while most of them were treated for fractures and chest pain.
“They were sleeping at the time of the blast,” said a source at the hospital, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
“There is a language barrier. We find it difficult to communicate with the patients properly and have sought assistance from the Iranian Embassy in Colombo.”
Iran has requested the repatriation of the deceased Iranian sailors, according to Deputy Health Minister Hansaka Wijemuni, who said that authorities are now making preparations to do so.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that IRIS Dena was struck in international waters without warning.
“The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores,” he wrote on X.
“Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set.”
