Pfizer studying vaccinated people who get infected for insights on boosters

Pfizer is studying the rare cases in which vaccinated people have gotten infected with the coronavirus in order to determine when booster shots might be needed.

“We will be looking at real world data to help us understand when we might see a change in vaccine effectiveness,” David Swerdlow, clinical epidemiology lead for Pfizer Vaccines, said on Monday at the Precision Medicine World Conference, Bloomberg Law reported.

“We’re going to be monitoring this closely and using immunological data, clinical data, and real world data to help us think about when a booster might be needed,” Swerdlow added.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in May that booster shots for the coronavirus vaccine will most likely be needed, but it is not clear exactly when. 

Two studies suggest immunity from the vaccines could last at least a year.

“We’re working on understanding the impact of booster doses. We will be getting data from continued monitoring of our clinical trials to see how long immune markers last,” Swerdlow said.

As of the end of April, there have been more than 10,000 cases of individuals who have been infected with the virus after getting the Pfizer vaccine, according to Bloomberg Law.