The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine does not require any modifications to ensure the protection against new strains of COVID-19.This was stated in a statementpublished by BioNTech.
"To date, there is no evidence that an adaptation of BioNTech’s current COVID-19 vaccine against key identified emerging variants is necessary. Despite this, BioNTech has developed a comprehensive strategy to address these variants should the need arise in the future," the company said.
At the same time, BioNTech developed a strategy to contend the further mutations.
“As part of BioNTech’s strategy to contend with the variant challenge, BioNTech submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the FDA has approved an additional amendment to the study protocol of the global Phase 1/2/3 trial which includes: (1) an assessment of the impact of a third dose of BNT162b2 in prolonging immunity against COVID-19 and in protecting against COVID-19 caused by potential newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, and (2) an assessment of a modified, variant-specific version of BNT162b2. The aim of this study is to explore the regulatory pathway that BioNTech and Pfizer would pursue if SARS-CoV-2 were to change enough to require an updated vaccine,” the statement reads.
The trial started in March 2021.