A health worker prepares a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)
"These data reinforce the potential function of a third dose of the vaccine in maintaining high levels of protection against the virus in this age group," the statement said. The two companies plan to submit the data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the coming days. Submissions to other regulatory agencies worldwide were also planned.
BERLIN, April 14 (Xinhua) -- German biotechnology company BioNTech and U.S. company Pfizer on Thursday published data showing a "high immune response" after booster vaccination in children aged between five and 11.
The data from a phase 2/3 clinical trial showed a 36-fold increase in neutralizing antibody titers to the Omicron variant after administration of the third dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, according to a joint statement.
Furthermore, a booster vaccination increased the number of neutralizing antibodies to the wild-type strain by 6-fold in this age group, according to the companies.
A boy receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine in a school on the outskirts of Agartala, the capital city of India's northeastern state of Tripura, March. 16, 2022. (Str/Xinhua)
"These data reinforce the potential function of a third dose of the vaccine in maintaining high levels of protection against the virus in this age group," the statement said. The two companies plan to submit the data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the coming days. Submissions to other regulatory agencies worldwide were also planned.
According to data by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases, around 49.1 million people in Germany have received a booster dose. And 19.4 million people are unvaccinated, including 4 million children aged up to 4 years for whom there is no approved vaccine.
A staff member shows a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Ankara, Turkey, on March 31, 2021. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)
Last week, Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, rejected to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for adults aged 60 years or older. A general mandatory vaccination for all adults starting at age 18 was not up for vote because the proposal was not believed to win a necessary majority. ■
