Following the news that the FDA has approved both the Pfizer/BioNTech and the Moderna omicron-specific booster.
Emily Martyn, MPH, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:
“The success of the mRNA* vaccine platform cannot be understated. Now that people are learning to “live with COVID-19”, individuals may prefer to risk having a mild illness than getting another booster vaccine. There is an acknowledgement that the public is suffering from ‘vaccine fatigue’, unwilling to get boosters and feeling overwhelmed by COVID-19 vaccine information.”
However, the uptake of these new boosters, expected to be rolled out in fall/winter, is predicted to mirror the poor uptake patterns of other recent boosters. This, in turn, correlates with poor booster uptake rates: if you don’t know you have the disease, you may be tempted to risk not getting a booster.
“The Omicron variant induces milder disease, with a study published by JAMA revealing that 56% of those infected were unaware that they had the Omicron variant, and 46% were asymptomatic**. New ideas are urgently needed to encourage as many people as possible to accept the fall/winter boosters, or we risk reinfection and the possibility of yet more variants. Uptake is stronger in the older age groups, yet only 24.6% of those aged over 65 have received their second booster dose.
Most countries have not imposed public health measures or restrictions, despite the Omicron variant causing a higher number of infections than previous variants. Omicron-specific boosters’ continued development highlights the mRNA vaccine platform’s speed and flexibility. Data from the CDC*** shows that only 27.3% of the population have received a booster dose within the 18-49 age group. Much of this has been attributed to the vaccine rollout, which did not prevent all Omicron infections but reduced hospital admissions and death.
“The attitude towards COVID-19 and its severity has changed drastically in 2022. It has saved millions of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and revolutionized the future of biologics therapy.
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