Skip to content
Business
Prognosis

Pfizer Files Application for Booster Against Latest Variants

  • Pfizer and BioNTech’s shot targets the dominant variant in US
  • Companies say they are prepared to ship doses immediately
A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Photographer: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg
Updated on

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE asked the US to authorize a new Covid booster shot customized against the currently circulating Covid variants as governments race to protect their populations against the ever-mutating virus.

In a statement, the companies said they had “rapidly scaled production” for the new booster and would be able to ship doses of the new vaccine “immediately” upon emergency authorization. The new shot contains mRNA for the original Covid spike protein, as well as mRNA for the BA.4/BA.5 subvariants of omicron. Currently BA.5, a newer evolution of omicron, is by far the dominant variant circulating in the US.