Second- generation coronavirus, Hong Kong health officials confirmed this week that they are vetting an application from pharmaceutical company BioNTech for approval of its second-generation coronavirus booster jab targeting the Omicron variant.
A government spokesman on Sunday said officials had received an application from the German company for use of a bivalent booster dose against the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron strains in Hong Kong, which are the city’s dominant strains at present, accounting for more than 90 per cent of samples tested by health authorities. The advisory panel on Covid-19 vaccines is expected to review the application on Thursday. The Post takes a look at the new vaccines. generation coronavirus shots in Hong Kong, supplied by Germany’s BioNTech and Chinese drug maker Sinovac, are based on the original coronavirus strain Second-generation vaccines refer to those that target new and emerging variants of the coronavirus. second- generation coronavirus, Further down the line are third-generation vaccines that scientists hope will be capable of dealing with a large number of variants, or even multiple coronaviruses. BioNTech’s second-generation booster contains a bivalent formulation, meaning it is based on two virus strains – the original coronavirus type, as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 lines.Information released by Pfizer and BioNTech in June showed that two Omicron-adapted vaccine candidates –
second- generation coronavirus, One monovalent and the other bivalent – elicited a substantially higher immune response against Omicron BA.1 compared with the companies’ present Covid-19 vaccine. The Omicron-adapted monovalent candidate given as a fourth booster dose elicited a 13.5 and 19.6-fold increase in neutralising geometric titres against Omicron BA.1 at 30µg and 60µg dose levels, while the bivalent vaccine candidate exhibited a 9.1- and 10.9-fold increase. Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, an infectious disease expert and a member of the government’s advisory panel, said the second-generation shot would provide better protection against new subvariants than earlier versions. “The vaccine is made using Omicron subvariants, which is definitely more similar to the current prevalent subvariants,” he said. “With higher similarity, the vaccine’s ability to create neutralising antibodies and the protection it provides will be greater than the vaccine based on the original virus strain.” He added that although no existing coronavirus vaccines could prevent infections, jabs would still protect recipients from serious Covid-19 symptoms and death.
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