A third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can strongly
boost protection against the Delta variant of COVID-19 that is driving
infections in the United States at the moment, according to data released by
Pfizer on Wednesday.

The data posted by the company online suggest that
antibody levels against the Delta variant in people aged 18 to 55 who receive a
third dose of vaccine is five-fold greater than those following a second dose,
reports CNN.

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For people aged 65 to 85, antibody levels against the
Delta variant rise more than 11-fold upon receiving a third dose, the data put up
by Pfizer suggest.

Pfizer’s data pool included 23 people and the results
have neither been peer-reviewed or published yet.

Dr Mikael Dolsten, who leads research, development and
medical for Pfizer, has called the new data on a third dose of vaccine “encouraging”.

According to Dolsten, receiving a third dose after
more than six months from receiving the second dose, when protection may begin
to wane, was estimated to potentially increase the neutralizing antibody titer
by up to 100 times higher after the third dose in participants of the study.

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Pfizer’s data released on Wednesday further shows that
a third dose considerably increases protection against other variants of the
coronavirus as well, including the Beta variant.

The new data comes following Pfizer’s announcement
earlier this month that it was planning to seek permission to develop a booster
dose after it observed immunity waning from the second dose of its vaccine.

The company had said that it plans to seek emergency
use authorisation under the US Food and Drug Administration for a third dose in
August.

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At the time, US government agencies had said that
Americans don’t need booster shots quite yet and it was not up to companies
alone to decide on whether a third dose would be required.

US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy repeated the point on
Wednesday morning while speaking to CNN wherein he said, “People do not need to
go out and get a booster shot.”

Meanwhile, Pfizer is gearing up to submit its data on
a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine to the FDA as soon as next month.