CDC Study Confirms Enhanced Protection from Updated Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Booster Vaccines Against Omicron Subvariants

Intelligent Finance APP learned that, according to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the updated COVID-19 vaccine booster provides stronger protection against subvariants of the coronavirus for individuals who have previously received up to four doses of the original vaccine. These findings support the results from Moderna (MRNA.US), Pfizer (PFE.US)/BioNTech (BNTX.US), indicating that their new version of the vaccine booster generates a stronger antibody response against the BA.4/BA.5 subvariants compared to the original vaccine.

It is reported that more than 360,000 people participated in the study, during which the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants became the dominant strains in the United States.

Latest research shows that the new vaccine benefits people aged 18-49 more than the elderly.

Data from the U.S. shows that so far, approximately 35 million doses of the updated COVID-19 vaccine booster have been administered across the country, accounting for about 10% of the total population.

Moreover, the researchers noted that the above findings might not apply to future subvariants, as the prevailing strains are constantly evolving.

In the past two months, the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants have become the dominant strains in the United States, replacing the Omicron BA.5 subvariant that the new booster shots were targeting.