Pfizer CEO said on Thursday that COVID-19 vaccine recipients will “probably” need a third dose between six and 12 months after they are fully vaccinated and that suggested coronavirus vaccinations may be needed each year.
Albert Bourla told CNBC’s Bertha Coombs at a CVS Health event that he predicts based on current data that a “likely scenario” will involve the COVID-19 vaccine given annually to patients.
Bourla said it “remains to be seen” how often any potential additional vaccines would be provided.
“A likely scenario is that there will probably be a need for a third dose somewhere between six and 12 months and then there will be an annual revaccination,” he said at the event.
“But all this needs to be confirmed and again the options 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 vaccines.
Earlier this month, Pfizer, along with German partner BioNTech, reported that their vaccine remained 91% effective at least six months after the second dose.
Bourla said the six months of data show “extremely extreme” protection from COVID-19, noting that protection “decreases over time”.
Health officials have previously raised the possibility that the public may need COVID-19 booster shots.
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David Kessler, the White House chief of staff, told lawmakers at a meeting Thursday that people “should expect” to receive booster shots, noting that officials “don’t know everything at this time.”
Pfizer and BioNTech said earlier this year that they are testing a third dose of their vaccine against COVID-19 variants that have spread around the world.
Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biological Evaluation and Research, said during a webinar of the American Medical Association that officials believe the protection “will probably last at least nine months.”
“It is possible, we are not sure, that somewhere at nine months a year, we may need boosters, but we will understand this better, probably with each month we will get more certainty about when this might be necessary. “he added.
Nearly 103 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been administered in the United States and more than 87 million doses of Moderna vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Updated at 14:33