Pfizer CEO: Third COVID-19 vaccine, likely scenario for annual boosters

This is a “likely scenario” that coronavirus vaccines require additional shots annually, said Dr. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in an interview with CVS Health on Thursday.

“The duration of the immunity was unknown. Until yesterday, there was only information about the first 90 days,” Bourla said, adding that data published on Wednesday showed that the Pfizer vaccine was still “extremely, extremely high protection”. “offers against being infected with COVID-19.

He said that although this is ‘very, very good news’, he also added that ‘vaccine protection decreases over time’, adding that the virus is more similar to the flu virus and the degree of mutation than the poliovirus.

“I think there will be a new vaccination based on this data. We have to see how often we will have to do it, it has yet to be seen.”

“A likely scenario is that there is likely to be a need for a third dose between six and twelve months. [after the initial vaccination] and from there it will be vaccinated again annually. ‘

“But it all needs to be confirmed,” he said, adding that “the variant will play a key role.” Meanwhile, the United States is preparing for the possibility that a boost shot is needed between nine and twelve months after people are initially vaccinated against COVID-19, a White House official said Thursday.

While studying the duration of immunity after vaccination, household vaccines may be needed, said David Kessler, chief scientific officer of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response task force at a congressional meeting.

“The current thinking is that those who are more vulnerable will have to go first,” he said.

Initial data showed that vaccines from Moderna Inc and partners Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE retained most of their effectiveness for at least six months, although for how long no longer was determined.

Even though the protection lasts much longer than six months, experts said that rapidly spreading variants of the coronavirus and others that can occur can lead to the need for regular booster shots similar to annual flu shots.

Data released last month by the Israeli Ministry of Health, along with Pfizer, showed that the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is approximately 97% effective against severe cases and 94% against asymptomatic infections.

The United States also monitors infections in people who have been fully vaccinated, Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the House subcommittee hearing.

Of the 77 million people vaccinated in the United States, there were 5,800 such breakthrough infections, Walensky said, including 396 people in need of hospitalization and 74 who died.

According to Walensky, some of these infections occurred because the vaccinated person did not have a strong immune response. But the concern is that in some cases it occurs in people infected with more infectious virus variants.

Earlier this month, Pfizer and partner BioNTech said their vaccine was approximately 91% effective in preventing COVID-19, citing updated trial data that fully vaccinated more than 12,000 people for at least six months.

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