By Sola Ogundipe

The Pfizer-BioNTech  COVID-19 vaccine’s protection against “breakthrough” coronavirus infections wanes over time, according to new research.

The new study found that the vaccine’s ability to protect against infection was  88 percent in its first month, falling to 47 percent after just five months.

The study, funded by Pfizer and published n the journal Lancet, also provides strong new evidence that the waning immunity against infection probably would have been seen with or without the arrival of the Delta variant.

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The Delta variant was not the driving factor in the vaccine’s waning efficacy against infection, according to the researchers’ findings, rather, the passage of time appeared to be the key to a vaccinated person’s resurgent vulnerability.

The research team led by infectious disease epidemiologist, Sara Tartof of Kaiser Permanente Southern California, found that a fresh inoculation with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine protected just as well against infection with the Delta variant as it did against infection with other versions of the coronavirus.

Also, the vaccine’s ability to protect vaccinated people from hospitalisation remained high across a span of time when the Delta variant gained ground in Southern California.

In addition, breakthrough infections were more closely linked to the amount of time that had lapsed since vaccination than they were to the particular viral variant involved.

By showing that waning immunity, not the Delta variant, was the likely reason for the rise in breakthrough infections, the study suggests it may not be necessary to reformulate a Pfizer-BioNTech booster that specifically targets Delta.

“For now, at least, a third shot identical to the first two would probably extend the vaccine’s early record of protection against all strains, including Delta,” Tartof said.

Vanguard News Nigeria