The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday struck a decidedly neutral tone on whether to back booster shots of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine.
The agency's 23-page report comes before a crucial meeting on Friday, when its advisory panel will debate if there is enough proof to to show that Pfizer's Covid-19 booster shot is safe and effective.
If the panel determines Pfizer's booster shot is safe and effective and that it also raises immunity levels, the Centres for Disease Control and Protection will have decide which Americans should receive the additional dose.
Advisers to the CDC will hold a two-day meeting next week to discuss booster vaccines, Reuters reported.
President Joe Biden's administration plans to begin offering booster shots to eligible Americans beginning September 20, pending approval from the FDA, as part of its plan to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in the US. That plan could be delayed if the FDA's panel delivers a negative view of the proposal.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday expressed an optimistic view of the administration's planned roll-out.
“There was always going to be a process; that process is proceeding,” Ms Psaki said.
Mr Biden has already committed to receiving a booster dose.
To bolster its case for a booster shot, Pfizer pointed the FDA to data from Israel, which began offering boosters over the summer.
Pfizer noted its vaccine's strength wanes after six to eight months following the second dose, and virus-fighting antibodies offered from a third dose given to people during that time period appear strong enough to fend off the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Pfizer argued that the booster shot restored protection to “95 per cent effectiveness".
But the FDA remains sceptical, noting observational studies could include “known and unknown biases that can affect their reliability”.
The agency added that US-based studies are also likely to better represent vaccine effectiveness among Americans.
In its report, the FDA also indicated that overall data suggest Pfizer and other US-authorised Covid-19 vaccines “still afford protection against severe Covid-19 disease and death in the United States".
Moderna has also asked the FDA to allow a booster shot of its vaccine, but it remains unclear when the agency will discuss that or a booster for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The US is already offering extra Pfizer or Moderna doses to those with severely weakened immune systems.
By pushing ahead with its booster roll-out, the US has rejected arguments from the World Health Organisation and other advocates that say rich countries should withhold offering boosters until more people worldwide have been vaccinated.
The Biden administration has recently taken a more hard-line stance on vaccine mandates amid the surging Delta variant, which has overwhelmed hospitals in states with low vaccination rates.
The US Department of Labour is currently developing a plan that would require businesses with at least 100 employees to require all workers be fully inoculated or subjected to weekly Covid-19 testing. Mr Biden also signed an executive order requiring the full vaccination of federal employees and contractors.
In all, up to 100 million vaccine-eligible Americans could be affected.
The disease has killed more than 667,000 people in the US, the highest death toll recorded for any country globally.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHayvn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristopher%20Flinos%2C%20Ahmed%20Ismail%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efinancial%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eundisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2044%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseries%20B%20in%20the%20second%20half%20of%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHilbert%20Capital%2C%20Red%20Acre%20Ventures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The UAE squad for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
The jiu-jitsu men’s team: Faisal Al Ketbi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Yahia Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Obaid Al Nuaimi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Mansoori, Saeed Al Mazroui, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Qubaisi, Salem Al Suwaidi, Khalfan Belhol, Saood Al Hammadi.
Women’s team: Mouza Al Shamsi, Wadeema Al Yafei, Reem Al Hashmi, Mahra Al Hanaei, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Hessa Thani, Salwa Al Ali.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
