Pfizer, BioNTech Begin Study of Omicron-Specific Covid Vaccine
- Clinical trial will focus on immune response in younger adults
- Drugmakers seeking to maintain protection afforded by shots
A health care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in Rio de Janeiro.
Photographer: Andre Borges/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Pfizer Inc. said it is starting a study of a Covid-19 vaccine that targets the omicron variant, exploring its use in previously vaccinated younger and middle-aged adults as well as those who haven’t received another coronavirus shot.
The New York-based drugmaker and its German partner, BioNTech SE, said in a statement on Tuesday that they had enrolled the first participants in a 1,420-person clinical trial that will evaluate the shot’s ability to prompt an immune response in healthy adults age 18 to 55. The study will also examine the shot’s safety and potential side effects.