Pfizer says its booster restores full protection against Covid

Washington: Pfizer and BioNTech has announced that a large-scale trial of their Covid-19 vaccine booster showed it restored full protection against the disease.

In a Phase 3 randomised, controlled trial, a Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose was administered to more than 10,000 individuals 16 years of age and older, who previously received the Pfizer-BioNTech primary two-dose series, reports Xinhua news agency.

It showed a relative vaccine efficacy of 95.6 per cent when compared to those who did not receive a booster.

These are the first efficacy results from any randomized, controlled Covid-19 vaccine booster trial.

"These results provide further evidence of the benefits of boosters as we aim to keep people well-protected against this disease," said Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration authorised the booster shots for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, allowing a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine be administered at least six months after completion of the primary series to individuals 65 years of age and older, and 18 through 64 years of age with frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2.