The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) on Wednesday approved a booster shot, under some conditions, for people who had previously received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Sahpra also approved a booster vaccine for immunocompromised children, within 28 days after a second shot and for immunocompromised adults at least 28 days after the second dose. Sahpra’s approval of the booster shot comes hours after Pfizer issued a statement saying preliminary laboratory studies demonstrate that three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine neutralise the Omicron variant, even though two doses still have significant efficacy against it. According to the statement, a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine increased neutralising antibodies against the Omicron variant twenty-five-fold compared with two doses. The statement said three doses of the Pfizer vaccine offered similar protection as two doses did against the “original” virus.

Source: Forbes December 09, 2021 04:45 UTC