Pfizer to seek US authorisation for Covid booster shot as Delta variant spreads

Syringe and vial are seen in front of displayed new Pfizer logo

Pfizer Inc plans to ask US regulators to authorize a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine within the next month, the drugmaker's top scientist said on Thursday, based on evidence of greater risk of reinfection six months after inoculation and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, however, in a joint statement that Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster Covid-19 shot at this time. Some scientists have also questioned the need for booster shots. Pfizer's chief scientific officer, Mikael Dolsten, said the recently reported dip in the vaccine's effectiveness in Israel was mostly due to infections in people who had been vaccinated in January or February. The country's health ministry said vaccine effectiveness in preventing both infection and symptomatic disease fell to 64% in June.