Pfizer announces a two-in-one vaccine for Covid AND flu – which it hopes will boost sluggish uptake for both vaccines
- The pharmaceutical giant said the first patient received a dose of the vaccine this week
- It was designed to combat common Omicron variants as well as the flu
- The vaccine uses mRNA technology that became popular during the Covid pandemic
Pfizer is testing a new vaccine that will vaccinate against Covid and flu, while both vaccines have been slow to take up.
The first patient received the two-in-one vaccine this week, as clinical trials began. A total of 180 patients will be recruited for the study.
Pfizer’s new vaccine targets the Omicron variant and its offshoots, as well as four strains of influenza.
Rival vaccine maker Moderna is also testing a vaccine against Covid and flu, as well as a triple-shot that also immunizes against RSV.
Nobody is expected to be ready for this year’s flu season, which is already the worst in over a decade and is putting hospitals under pressure.
Uptake of the updated bivalent booster vaccine is lagging in the US with only a handful of eligible Americans coming forward.
The pharmaceutical giant said the first patient received a dose this week in the early-stage trials, which will last six months (file photo).
The graph above shows the number of positive RSV virus tests by date in the United States. It shows they are now at their highest level since 2020, before the pandemic started. The data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Pfizer announced that the first patient was injected this week in its phase 1 trials.
These tests are designed to make sure the vaccine is safe and effective and to determine the best dose.
However, the new vaccine will need to undergo further testing before it can be rolled out nationwide.
The study will recruit 180 people in the US between the ages of 18 and 64, who will be followed for six months and compared to a control group who did not receive the injection.
All participants must have received at least three doses of the Pfizer Covid vaccine or a primary series plus a booster dose.
A Pfizer spokesman said there were no plans to develop this vaccine to replace the standard two-dose Covid vaccine.
Annaliesa Anderson, chief scientific officer in vaccines research and development at Pfizer, said the mRNA technology is “well suited” to targeting other viruses.
“Pfizer is extremely proud of our continued work to explore its potential to protect against influenza and Covid in a combination vaccine,” she said.
‘We believe [this] could simplify vaccination practices against these two respiratory pathogens and potentially lead to better vaccine uptake for both diseases.
“Even with existing seasonal influenza vaccines, the burden of this virus is severe worldwide, causing thousands of deaths and hospitalizations each year.”
Currently, the flu vaccine is rolled out every year to boost immunity to the virus in those who are more susceptible.
However, scientists believe the Covid shot will also be needed annually, spurring efforts to combine them to avoid the need for two vaccines.
This fall, the US government began rolling out an updated bivalent booster vaccine targeting Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.
But uptake has been slow, with just 22 million of the 226 million eligible — or 10 percent — reported more than a month after launch.
Medical professionals have blamed the low intake on a general feeling that the Covid pandemic is over.
Influenza vaccinations are also lagging behind, with 128 million shots distributed so far this year, compared with 156 million at this point in the first winter of the pandemic, down 18 percent.
Buoyed by the success of its Covid vaccines, Pfizer shot up to become the second most profitable pharmaceutical company in the world last year – and made $21.98 billion.
Yesterday it revealed that its experimental RSV vaccine was highly effective, reducing the risk of infants being hospitalized by 80 percent.
Pfizer’s new 80% effective RSV vaccine brings hope to overwhelmed children’s hospitals
Pfizer has announced that its experimental RSV vaccine is highly effective – a ray of hope for parents and doctors.
The pharma giant announced that its injection may reduce the risk of hospitalization in infants aged up to six months infected with the seasonal virus.
If approved, it would be the first vaccine against RSV, killing between 100 and 500 children under the age of five each year and hospitalizing about 58,000.
That could prove a lifeline for hospitals, which are currently overwhelmed with unusually high cases of the virus – which has been blamed on lockdowns aimed at suppressing child immunity.
The vaccine is given to pregnant women during the late second to third trimester of their pregnancy. Vaccination during pregnancy allows the antibodies to cross to the placenta, protecting the fetus.
Pfizer’s study involved 7,400 pregnant women in 18 countries, who received either one dose of the experimental vaccine or a placebo.
Pfizer expects to complete its application for approval by the Food and Drug Administration by the end of 2022, and potentially grant a federal approval before the next respiratory infection season begins.