Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Wanes But The Shot Is Good For Keeping People Out Of Hospitals, Says Study

Pfizer Inc PFE and its partner BioNTech SE’s BNTX COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness against the disease wanes with time but its protection against hospitalization remains, as per a study.

What Happened: The vaccine’s effectiveness declined from a peak of 88% a month after receiving the two-shots to 47% six months later, as per the study published by The Lancet.

Protection against COVID-related hospitalization remained 90% for all coronavirus variants of concern for at least six months, as per the study, which was funded by Pfizer.

“Protection against infection does decline in the months following a second dose,” said Sara Tartof, an epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente and the lead author of the study.

The fall in efficacy for infection was “most likely due to waning and not caused by delta or other variants escaping vaccine protection,” said Pfizer’s chief medical officer for vaccines Luis Jodar, as per CNBC, which first reported the news.

Why It Matters: The study’s findings confirm reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Israeli health officials that protection against infection declines over several months but the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is effective in preventing disease-related hospitalization, noted CNBC.

See Also: Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Data For Kids Is Here: What You Need To Know

Last month, the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster shot was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for high-risk individuals, and for those age 65 and above.

On Monday, the European Medicine Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human use recommended COVID-19 booster shots from Pfizer-BioNTech.

The recommendation was based on studies that showed a third dose increased levels of antibodies.

A positive recommendation from the EMA was also given to Moderna Inc’s MRNA Spikevax, COVID-19 vaccine booster.

Meanwhile, FDA’s Related Biological Advisory Committee is set to meet on Oct. 15 to discuss authorization of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine booster for those age 18 years and above.

It was reported that Johnson & Johnson JNJ is also planning to ask the FDA to authorize the booster shot for its COVID-19 vaccine.

Price Action: On Monday, Pfizer shares closed nearly 1.2% lower at $42.42 in the regular session and fell almost 0.3% in the after-hours trading. On the same day, BioNTech shares closed 2.31% lower at $248.90 in the regular session.

Read Next: Pfizer CEO Says People Needing COVID-19 Vaccines Every Year Is The 'Most Likely Scenario'