4th COVID Shot For Seniors In NJ: Pfizer Asks For Approval

NEW JERSEY — As COVID-19 rates decline in New Jersey, people 65 and older may soon be able to get a second COVID-19 vaccine booster, which the pharmaceutical company that makes it says will increase the durability of their coronavirus vaccinations.

This would be the fourth coronavirus vaccine, and it's being pushed by Pfizer.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told Face the Nation Sunday that the fourth booster shot of his company's vaccine is "necessary."

"Right now, the way that we have seen, it is necessary, a fourth booster right now," said Bourla. "The protection that you are getting from the third, it is good enough, actually quite good for hospitalizations and deaths. It's not that good against infections."

Pfizer and its coronavirus vaccine partner, BioNTech, have asked the Food and Drug Administration for emergency-use authorization for the shots in an effort to bolster immunity among older Americans.

COVID-19 infection rates have declined significantly in the last month. The seven-day average of cases Wednesday was about 30,500 nationwide, compared with about 129,250 on Feb. 16, according to a database kept by The New York Times.

Health officials are optimistic as the third year of the pandemic begins, couching that with concern about an increase in so-called stealth omicron cases around the country. The omicron subvariant BA.2 has grown more common in the two months since it was first detected in the United States in January, and now represents about a quarter of new cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Wednesday, New Jersey reported another 13 deaths with coronavirus and 1,551 new positive cases. The state's seven-day average for new cases is down seven percent from a week ago and down 53 percent from a month ago, according to NJ.com.

Pfizer-BioNTech said the request for FDA authorization of a second booster is based on “real-world” data from studies in Israel.

Israel is among a handful of countries worldwide that has offered the fourth shot to its citizens for some time now.

Those studies showed confirmed infections were two times lower and rates of severe illness were four times lower among people who received the second Pfizer booster, compared to people who received only one, according to a press release from Pfizer.

Moderna, which also makes a two-shot mRNA vaccine and booster, hasn’t asked the FDA for approval of a fourth shot in the series, but Stephane Bancel, the company’s chief executive, said at a health care conference in January that he thinks more boosters will be necessary.

Moderna is continuing its bivalent omicron-specific booster trial, which, uses an omicron-specific booster and the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Our goal has been to remain ahead of the virus, and we are committed to generating and sharing data with public health authorities as they prepare for the fall booster season,” Bancel said in a news release.

COVID-19 money was pulled from the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill approved last week, leaving President Joe Biden’s coronavirus road map in some doubt. Some Biden officials have said they believe all adults should get a second booster, regardless of age, as immunity wanes.

The FDA will convene its outside advisory committee in April to discuss whether COVID-19 booster shots should be part of the annual influenza vaccine campaign encouraging all Americans to get their shots in the fall, ahead of cold-weather season when people are cooped up inside, The Washington Post reported.

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