by: Associated Press
Posted: Jul 28, 2021 / 02:52 PM EDT / Updated: Jul 28, 2021 / 02:52 PM EDT
Registered nurse Morgan James loads a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the Blood Bank of Alaska in Anchorage on March 19, 2021. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine wanes slightly over time but it remains strongly protective for at least six months after the second dose, according to company data released Wednesday.
The findings are one piece of evidence that U.S. health authorities will consider in deciding if and when booster doses might be needed. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have said they plan to seek authorization for boosters.
The new data comes from the 44,000-person study that initiated the widespread use of the vaccine, showing its highly effective in the first few months after immunization. Now the companies have tracked those study participants for six months and counting.
Most important, protection against severe COVID-19 remains very high, at nearly 97%, researchers found. Overall, protection against symptomatic COVID-19 was 91% over the six-month period, the study found.
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