The majority of patients will require a fourth COVID-19 vaccination injection to be protected against the virus, according to Pfizer’s CEO on Sunday.
When asked if Americans may expect to have annual COVID booster shots every fall, CEO Albert Bourla indicated during an interview on CBS’s “Face The Nation” that “it is necessary for most.”
The two first doses plus a booster regimen is unable to guard against variations and loses strength too soon, according to Bourla, necessitating further shots.
“Right now, the protection you receive from the third [injection] is good enough — actually pretty good for hospitalizations and deaths — it’s not so good against infections, but it doesn’t last very long,” he explained.
Pfizer and other companies are working on shots that will protect against any future variants.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in an interview that the current two initial doses and booster shot wanes too quickly in strength.
“Omicron was the first [variant] that was able to circumvent the immune protection that we’re given in a sophisticated way, but also in that the duration of the protection isn’t very long,” Bourla told Margaret Brennan.
“What we’re attempting to achieve, and on which we’re currently working very hard, is to develop not just a vaccination that protects against all variations, including Omicron, but also one that protects for at least a year.”