BioNTech said May 10 there is "no evidence" supporting the need to adapt the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with Pfizer to be more effective against coronavirus variants.
As international COVID-19 vaccination rates remain slow, some public health officials are worried more contagious variants are proliferating quickly enough that herd immunity won't reduce the risk they pose.
BioNTech said it "has developed a comprehensive strategy to address these variants should the need arise in the future." For example, the FDA has approved plans made by BioNTech and Pfizer to study the effectiveness of a third vaccine dose for prolonged immunity and protection against variants.