Source: New York Times
By Remy Tumin
Scientists have long said that giving people a single course of a Covid-19 vaccine might not be sufficient in the long term, and that booster shots and even annual vaccinations might prove necessary.
In recent days, that proposition has begun to sound less hypothetical.
Vaccine makers are getting a jump-start on possible new rounds of shots, although they sound more certain of the need for boosters than independent scientists have.
Pfizer’s chief executive said on Thursday that a third dose of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine would “likely” be needed within a year of the initial two-dose inoculation — followed by annual vaccinations.
“There are vaccines like polio where one dose is enough, and there are vaccines like flu that you need every year, ” Albert Bourla, the Pfizer chief, said in a conversation hosted by CVS Health. “The Covid virus looks more like the influenza virus than the polio virus.”
Categories: Vaccine
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said people will “likely” need a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated. His comments were made public Thursday but were taped April 1.
Bourla said it’s possible people will need to get vaccinated against the coronavirus annually.
“A likely scenario is that there will be likely a need for a third dose, somewhere between six and 12 months and then from there, there will be an annual revaccination, but all of that needs to be confirmed. And again, the variants will play a key role,” he told CNBC’s Bertha Coombs during an event with CVS Health.
“It is extremely important to suppress the pool of people that can be susceptible to the virus,” Bourla said.
The comment comes after Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky told CNBC in February that people may need to get vaccinated against Covid-19 annually, just like seasonal flu shots.
Researchers still don’t know how long protection against the virus lasts once someone has been fully vaccinated.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/15/pfizer-ceo-says-third-covid-vaccine-dose-likely-needed-within-12-months.html
By Denise Chow
People are likely to need a third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine within a year of getting fully vaccinated and may subsequently need annual shots to protect against the coronavirus, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Thursday.
Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, are studying how long the vaccines’ protective immunity will last. Their findings will guide whether additional booster shots will be necessary.
Bourla said it’s “likely” that a booster will be needed within 12 months of the initial two-shot regimen.
“It is extremely important to suppress the pool of people that can be susceptible to the virus,” Bourla told CNBC on Thursday during an event with CVS Health.
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/covid-19-booster-shot-likely-needed-12-months-pfizers-ceo-says-rcna692
Israel has recorded no new daily Covid-19 deaths for the first time in 10 months, as the country pushes ahead with its speedy vaccination drive.
The country’s coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 6,346 on Thursday, health ministry data showed.
The last time Israel reported zero Covid-19 deaths was at the end of June last year, after lockdown measures curbed a first wave of infections.
Israel’s outbreak has eased after hitting its peak in January this year.
The Israeli government started to relax lockdown restrictions a month later as vaccinations against Covid-19 were rolled out more widely.
Israel has the highest vaccination rate in the world. On Thursday, the country reached the milestone of five million Covid-19 vaccinations.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56868383