Positive clinical trials for the third dose in Pfizer

Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company, is currently conducting clinical trials to determine the benefits of receiving or not receiving a third dose of the Kovid-19 vaccine.

These are mostly done on healthy people of different ages.

Positive basic data

There will be an improvement in the immune system after adding a third dose of the vaccine, said Fabian Pacquet, general manager and head of vaccinations at Pfizer Canada.

“What we see is that there is a positive immune response after adding that third dose. It significantly raises the level of antibodies.”

Analyzes are done according to different subgroups. “We will see if the results are the same in patients who are not immunocompromised and in healthy patients,” Mr Pacquet said.

The third dose may occur between the sixth and twelfth month after the second dose. “We definitely have to wait for clear results,” he said.

“Since the beginning of the epidemic, Pfizer has always focused on disclosing results transparently, directing us to the clinical results that science tells us,” the director general said. “Therefore, at this point, it is premature to have recommendations. We will have to wait for the results of scientists who give us clinical trials to make recommendations to the FDA or Health Canada.

Vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years

A series of clinical trials on the vaccine, especially in adolescents aged 5 to 11 years, are under study. “By the end of the year, we expect to start getting results and we can submit a request to government officials,” Mr Pacquet said.

For those 5 years of age and younger, the protocols are less in terms of clinical trials. “We do not have enough data to establish a projection of the results,” the person in charge of vaccinations underlined.

Protective vaccines, but not completely

Although the vaccine campaign in Quebec is well underway, the Delta variant is expanding. According to Fabian Paquet, the vaccine is effective in protecting people well, especially in preventing severe symptoms and hospitalization, but it is not 100% safe.

“The vaccine does not provide complete protection, so even if they have their dose, there is still a chance that people affected by the virus will still be infected,” he said. “In general, we found that the symptoms were of very little importance and therefore the consequences were minimal.”