With the global COVID-19 pandemic and variants raising expectations about the need for booster shots, more companies are jumping into the vaccine space. But unless those sponsors have been engaging “in an ongoing manner” with the U.S. FDA on developing the manufacturing process and clinical trial program for their vaccine candidates, their emergency use authorization (EUA) requests may be denied, according to a new FDA guidance on EUAs for COVID-19 vaccines.

LONDON – The U.K. is launching a trial to investigate the potential use of seven different COVID-19 vaccines as boosters, to provide safety and immunogenicity data for if/when immune responses to initial vaccination wane and a revaccination campaign is needed later in the year. The trial, at 18 sites across the country, will recruit 2,886 participants who previously received two doses of either Astrazeneca plc or Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE’s COVID-19 vaccines.

In an open letter to Pfizer Inc. employees, the company’s CEO, Albert Bourla, provided some insight about why some countries don’t have COVID-19 vaccines and others have a surplus. It has nothing to do with intellectual property (IP), or even price, Bourla said.