Pfizer’s CEO said on Thursday that recipients of COVID-19 vaccines are likely to need a third dose between six and twelve months after they have been fully vaccinated, and suggested coronavirus vaccinations may be needed each year.
Albert Bourla told CNN’s Bertha Coombs during a CVS Health event that he predicts that a “likely scenario” based on current data will administer the COVID-19 vaccine to patients annually.
Bourla said it remains to be seen how often any potential additional vaccines will be provided.
“A likely scenario is that there will probably be a need for a third dose between six and twelve months, and from there it will be vaccinated again annually,” he said during the event.
“But all this needs to be confirmed and again, the variant will play a key role,” he continued. “It is extremely important to suppress the group of people who may be susceptible to the virus because they are vaccinated with high-efficiency vaccinations.”
Earlier this month, Pfizer, along with German partner BioNTech, reported that their vaccine remained 91 percent effective, at least six months after the second dose.
Bourla said the six-month data showed ‘extraordinary, extremely high’ protection against COVID-19, pointing out that protection continues to ‘decline over time’.
Health officials had earlier raised the possibility that the public needed a boost COVID-19 shot.
Top expert infectious diseases Anthony Fauci
Iowa Governor Anthony Fauci says receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine amid a hiatus: “I’ll do it again” Jill Biden appears in ‘Sesame Street’ documentary Despite the July 4 timeline, the US is far of herd immunity. told MSNBC on Sunday that people ‘very well need a booster vaccine to protect themselves from the virus.
White House Chief of Staff David Kessler told lawmakers at a hearing on Thursday that people “should expect” to get booster shots, noting that officials “do not know everything at the moment.”
Pfizer and BioNTech said earlier this year that they were testing a third dose of their vaccine against the COVID-19 variants that had spread worldwide.
Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said during a webinar from the American Medical Association that officials think protection is likely to last at least nine months.
“It is possible, we do not know for sure, that we should have boosters somewhere nine months a year, but we will get a better idea of it, we will probably get more certainty with each month about when it may be necessary,” he said. he added.
Nearly 103 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been administered in the US and more than 87 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Updated 14:33