Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said a fourth dose of the Covid vaccine will be needed because of waning protection after a third dose, in comments on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday.
Host Margaret Brennan asked if Americans should expect to get a Covid shot every fall similar to a flu shot.
“I think so,” Bourla replied. “Variants are coming and Omicron was the first one that was able to evade in a skillful way the immune protection that we were given.”
Bourla said his company is attempting to develop a vaccine that will protect against all potential variants of Covid, and whose protection will last “at least a year.” A fourth Covid shot will be “necessary,” Bourla said.
“The protection that we are getting from the third [dose], it is good enough, actually quite good for hospitalizations and deaths, it’s not that good against infections, but doesn’t last very long,” Bourla said. “We are just submitting those data to the FDA and then we will see what the experts also will say, outside of Pfizer.”
Pfizer CEO @AlbertBourla tells @margbrennan his company is working “very diligently” to make a covid vaccine that will protect against variants & will protect “for at least a year.” pic.twitter.com/yf2baRwy4K
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 13, 2022
The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already authorized Covid booster shots for most Americans.
Bourla’s comments come after the highly contagious Omicron variant of Covid swept through the U.S. The appearance of the variant and resulting high number of workers out sick snarled flights over the Christmas-New Year holiday week, with the Biden administration struggling to rectify a nationwide shortage of Covid tests.
Source: National Review
