Bivalent Pfizer booster elicits stronger response to BQ.1.1 variant than original vaccine
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The bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech elicited a stronger response against the BQ.1.1 sublineage than the companies’ original vaccine in people aged 55 years and older, according to new data from the companies.
On Friday, Pfizer and BioNTech published results from an analysis assessing the immune response induced by their omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine against newer omicron sublineages, including BA.4.6, BA.2.75.2 and XBB.1, as well as BQ.1.1, which has doubled in prevalence in recent weeks and now accounts for 24.1% of cases in the U.S., according to the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker.
The new data, which were gathered 1 month after participants were given either a fourth dose of the omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted vaccine or the original vaccine, showed that the bivalent booster generated a greater increase in neutralizing antibodies against emerging omicron sublineages than the original.
Specifically, the data showed that neutralizing antibodies against BA.4.6, BA.2.75.2, BQ.1.1, and XBB.1 increased by 11.1-fold (95% CI, 7.1, 17.3), 6.7-fold (95% CI, 4.4,10.2), 8.7-fold (95% CI, 5.7, 13.3), and 4.8-fold (95% CI, 3.3, 6.9), respectively, among people given the adapted booster, compared with increases of 2.3-fold (95% CI, 1.9, 2.8), 2.1-fold (95% CI, 1.7, 2.5), 1.8-fold, (95% CI, 1.6, 2.2), and 1.5-fold (95% CI, 1.3, 1.8), respectively, following a booster dose of the companies’ original COVID-19 vaccine.
Based on these findings, the companies said the omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent booster, which has been authorized for emergency use for people aged 5 years and older, could provide improved protection against COVID-19 due to omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages as well as new sublineages that continue to increase in prevalence.
References:
- CDC. COVID Data Tracker. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions. Accessed on Nov. 18, 2022.
- Pfizer and BioNTech report new data on omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent booster demonstrating improved immune response against emerging omicron sublineages. https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-report-new-data-omicron-ba4ba5-adapted. Published Nov. 18, 2022. Accessed Nov. 18, 2022.
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