Pfizer and BioNTech Begin Testing Combined COVID-19 and Flu Vaccine

Pfizer and BioNTech recently announced that a combination vaccination for COVID-19 and the flu is being tested in early-stage research. According to the Washington Examiner, the updated COVID-19 booster vaccine from the pharmaceutical companies will be combined with the influenza vaccine to streamline immunizing people against both diseases. The updated COVID-19 booster vaccine will reportedly target the original strain of the COVID-19 virus from 2020 and the omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5.

CEO and co-founder of BioNTech Ugur Sahin said, “By combining both indications in one vaccine approach, we aim to provide individuals with an efficient way to receive immunization against two severe respiratory diseases with evolving viruses that require vaccine adaptation. The data will also provide us with more insights on the potential of mRNA vaccines addressing more than one pathogen. This will help us to further develop our infectious disease pipeline to deliver on patient centric vaccination approaches.”

The Phase 1 study will include 180 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 64 to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the vaccination. This week, a single dosage of the combo shot was given to one participant. Moderna and Novavax are also reportedly developing a COVID-19 flu vaccination. 

The combination shot comes as White House officials and pharmaceutical companies hint that COVID-19 doses are likely to be advised on an annual basis, similar to the advice for flu vaccines. In September, Dr. Fauci stated, “In the absence of dramatically different variants, we likely are moving towards a path with a vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine, with annual updated Covid-19 shots matched to the currently circulating strains for most of the population.”

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