COVID Pandemic Could Extend Till 2024; Know The Reason Behind Pfizer’s Projection

By OB Bureau On Dec 18, 2021

San Francisco: The COVID-19 pandemic could extend till 2024 as the lower-dose version of its vaccine for 2-4 years olds generated a weaker immune response than expected, Pfizer Inc said on Friday.

Pfizer has developed the vaccine with Germany’s BioNTech SE. While a 3-microgram dose of its vaccine was tested on 2-5 year-olds, a 10-microgram dose was used in 5-11 year-olds and 30-microgram doses in everyone over 12. In children aged 6 to 24 months, the low-dose version of the vaccine generated an immune response consistent with that of older vaccine recipients, Reuters reported.

The company said it had expected data of its testing of three-dose course of the vaccine in all age groups under 16, including 2-4-year-olds, this year. Despite the delay, it would go ahead and file for emergency use authorization in the second quarter of 2022.

“The data are illustrating the impact of a booster and that our vaccine works best as a primary regimen of three doses,” Pfizer chief scientific officer Mikael Dolsten said on a conference call.

In the presentation to investors, he further said that some regions might continue to report COVID cases over the next year or two while others would witness a transition to “endemic” with low and manageable caseloads during the same period, the report added.

According to the company’s projection, the disease should be endemic around the globe by 2024.

“When and how exactly this happens will depend on the evolution of the disease, how effectively society deploys vaccines and treatments, and equitable distribution to places where vaccination rates are low,” Dolsten said, adding, “The emergence of new variants could also impact how the pandemic continues to play out.”