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The Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus, first identified in India and thought to be the most contagious thus far, is said to be spreading rapidly around the world and is now the most prevalent strain in the U.S. It is also thought to be better able to evade the vaccines that were developed to fight earlier versions of the virus.
This has vaccine makers like Pfizer working to update versions of their vaccines and to develop booster shots and even new vaccines that will offer more protection against Delta and any new variants.
So says an article in the Wall Street Journal of 9 July, which reports that Pfizer, along with its partner BioNTech, announced on 8 July that authorization from U.S. regulators would be sought for a third shot in addition to the two that were previously thought to achieve “full vaccination.” The initial Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first to be approved in the U.S., and has even been approved for use in those 12 years and older (despite that age group being statistically at extremely low risk).
Note (as Trends Journal did on 15 December 2020, in “FDA APPROVES U.S. VACCINE”) that the original Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was not given the full blessing of the FDA, but was authorized for “emergency use.” Complete data as to the drug’s safety and efficacy wasn’t presented to the FDA until some 4 months later.
Diminishing Effectiveness
The need for updated versions or booster shots is driven by findings that the original vaccine’s effectiveness begins to diminish some six months after the second dose. This is based on Pfizer and BioNTech’s own clinical trials, and also on data from the Israeli Ministry of Health, which found that while the initial vaccine had offered 94 percent protection from COVID-19, it provided only 64 percent protection from an outbreak of the Delta variant.
The Drug Lords Saw This Coming, And So Did Trends Journal
Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, began selling the line that people would likely need another shot within 12 months of being fully-vaccinated, based on what the company’s clinical trials had revealed about the vaccine’s long-term effectiveness.
TRENDPOST: As Trends Journal reported on 20 April, “PFIZER CEO: THIRD TIME IS A CHARM,” Bourla even suggested that annual vaccinations might be required, just like annual flu shots. And that was well before the phrase “Delta variant” had entered the lexicon.
And on 11 May, in “DRUG COMPANIES CASHING IN ON COVID,” we also reported that Pfizer viewed production of COVID vaccines as a “durable revenue stream,” and was in discussion with “basically all governments of the world” about providing booster shots through 2024!