Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced this Wednesday (8) that its immunizing agent against Covid-19 is capable of neutralizing the micron variant from the application of three doses. A new study, carried out by the company, has shown that the third dose of the vaccine increases antibody titers against the disease by 25 times, compared to the first two.
Immunization with two doses loses efficiency against contagion with the new variant of Covid-19, but it is still able to prevent serious conditions and deaths. The third dose, therefore, is essential for more efficient protection against Ômicron.
Sinovac reported on the same day that a third dose of Coronavac increases the level of neutralizing antibodies against Covid-19 by about 20 times, helping to protect against new variants such as Delta and Ômicron. The information was provided by scientist Xiangxi Wang, a researcher at the Laboratory of Infection and Immunity at the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“Having a result, even preliminary, showing that an additional dose of Pfizer considerably increases protection, especially for Ômicron, is great news,” said Juarez Cunha, president of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), in an interview The CNN.
The expert indicates that the results for those who took the initial doses of immunizers from other manufacturers should be similar. “We already had some data on interchangeability, the use of different vaccines in the third dose, improving the immune response”, he explained, recalling that the current recommendation of the National Immunization Plan (PNI) of the Ministry of Health is that the booster dose be different from the first two.
Update of immunizing agents
According to Cunha, the need to update vaccines to combat new variants of Covid-19 will only be realized over time. “We are all looking forward to learning more about Ômicron,” he said.
The appearance of new variants of the disease was already expected, and the fall in the protection of vaccines against contagion had also been observed with the spread of Delta. “We know that as long as the virus is circulating, the variants will appear”, he explained.
The specialist stressed that vaccines are still effective in preventing the evolution of serious cases of Covid-19 and deaths, and remain the most effective way to fight the pandemic and protect individuals.
“The good news is that the vaccines we currently have, especially the messenger RNA ones like Pfizer’s, are capable of rapid change and production. If it becomes necessary to update, as we do annually with the flu vaccine, the laboratories have the capacity”, explained the president of SBIm.
The manufacturer of Coronavac, Sinovac, has already confirmed its intention to update its immunizing agent within three months, as announced in a symposium held by the Butantan Institute in partnership with the company.
Reference: CNN Brasil
