“The updated vaccine could be available as soon as September,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of Chicago Department of Public Health, on Tuesday discussing Omicron-specific COVID boosters.
The company that manufactures the Pfizer COVID vaccine says that it could potentially begin deliveries on an omicron-targeting variation of the inoculation as soon as this fall.
According to a press release from BioNTech, issued following a Monday earnings call, deliveries of the omicron-adapted vaccines could begin as soon as October, pending regulatory approval by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
According to the release, the company says it is preparing to launch "bivalent" versions of its vaccine, which will target two different antigens, targeting both the original COVID virus and omicron subvariants.
The federal government entered into an agreement with BioNTech earlier this year to purchase 105 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine this fall, with an option to purchase nearly 200 million also available.
Moderna has reached a similar agreement with the government to produce at least 66 million doses of its omicron-specific vaccine, but it is unclear when deliveries will begin for the shots.
The BioNTech announcement is a critical development because the latest iterations of the omicron variant, the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, have shown an increased ability to evade immunity conveyed by both previous COVID infection and by COVID vaccination.
The vaccines have still proven effective against the variants in preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death, according to federal health officials.
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Both companies are following recommendations set by an advisory panel from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines will be adjusted to better target the omicron COVID variant.
The booster shots could be distributed sometime in October or November, according to Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.
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"Once we know what that guidance looks like — the FDA and CDC are weighing in — we would have the timing for a potential fall booster campaign," Arwady said. "I'm guessing that fall booster campaign will come October, possibly November. It takes about three months to start producing, distributing, etc. doses that have that updated composition."
However, Arwady noted the difficulties of the approval process.
“This has been complicated because those subvariants continue to emerge. Neither company has developed the vaccine specific to BA.4, BA.5 because that just emerged in the last couple weeks," Arwady said last Tuesday. “There’s this question of when do you draw the line when it takes about three months for vaccines to be produced and distributed, but also wanting to make sure it’s the best match possible.”
With these two variants, Arwady noted that, in some cases, those previously infected with omicron "early on" have become reinfected with BA.4 and BA.5, including cases in Chicago, making the new vaccines even more critical in the months ahead.
