Pfizer's CEO confirmed on Twitter that they seek emergency use authorization to provide a second COVID-19 booster shot for adults 65 years and older.
Albert Bourla said that they submitted the application to the FDA on Tuesday.
"The submission is based on two real-world data sets from Israel analyzed at a time when the Omicron variant was widely circulating," the company said in the press release. "Both data sets showed evidence that an additional mRNA booster increases immunogenicity and lowers rates of confirmed infections and severe illness."
We have submitted an application to the @US_FDA for Emergency Use Authorization of an additional Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose for individuals 65 and older who have received an initial booster of any of the authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccines: https://t.co/a8pZPKMxuK
— Albert Bourla (@AlbertBourla) March 15, 2022
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control recommends that people 12 and older receive a Pfizer booster shot. They are eligible for the vaccine five months after completing their primary series.
Health officials have said that people who are 65 and older are at greater risk of severe complications from COVID-19. But that risk has been shown to dramatically fall with a booster shot.
The CDC says more than 32 million Americans 65 and older have already received their first booster shot.
Earlier this week, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that Americans would need a fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to fend off future variants of the virus.
"The protection that you are getting from the third (dose), it is good enough, actually quite good for hospitalizations and deaths. It's not that good against infections, but doesn't last very long," Bourla said.
