LOC19:41
16:41 GMT
WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (KUNA) -- Pfizer and German partner BioNTech have started testing a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine to determine the immune response against new variants of the virus, the drug manufacturer said on Thursday.
The study is part of a "clinical development strategy" to determine the effectiveness of a third dose against evolving variants of the coronavirus, the company said in a statement.
"We have not seen any evidence that the circulating variants result in a loss of protection provided by our vaccine," said Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla, adding the company will "act decisively" in the event a COVID strain becomes resistant to the two-dose shot.
In the first stage of the study, a third 30 microgram dose will be administered to as many as 144 people who received the vaccine six to 12 months ago in the original Phase I safety trial, the statement revealed.
More than 45 million people in the US have been given the first shot of a coronavirus vaccine, while more than 20 million others had already completed the course. (end)
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