With COVID-19 booster shots expected to become as routine as an annual flu vaccine, a single shot combining both is currently being tested. Pfizer announced a study is underway by its German partner, BioNTech, of a combination of the companies’ updated COVID-19 booster shot that became available in the United States in early September and a Pfizer flu vaccine that’s in development. Both products utilize mRNA technology.
The aim is to efficiently “address two severe respiratory diseases with one vaccine,” according to a news release from Pfizer. “The flexibility and manufacturing speed of the mRNA technology has demonstrated that it is well-suited for other respiratory diseases,” Annaliesa Anderson, Pfizer senior vice president and chief scientific officer, vaccine research and development, said in a statement.
The company thinks a combination vaccine “could simplify immunization practices against these two respiratory pathogens, potentially leading to better vaccine uptake for both diseases,” Anderson said, noting that the flu causes thousands of deaths and hospitalizations worldwide every year. Americans have been urged to get both an annual flu shot and an updated COVID-19 booster shot known as a bivalent vaccine because it’s targeted at the currently circulating versions of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 in addition to the original strain of the coronavirus.