People will likely need a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine within one year, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a recently released statement.
Bourla also stressed the likelihood that people will need to be vaccinated annually, CNBC reported.
“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,” Bourla said. “But all of that needs to be confirmed. And again, the variants will play a key role.”
Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky delivered a similar message back in February, suggesting that people will need annual vaccines much like the seasonal flu shot.
The Big Pharma CEOs’ statements come amid skepticism over vaccine safety after the federal government rushed the vaccines through testing stages.
Concerns over vaccine safety have emerged particularly in red states, which, after months of media-driven panic, now mistrust government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control more than ever.
Pharmaceutical CEO’s have only amplified their alarm.
President Biden‘s administration has issued similarly alarmist warnings.
David Kessler, the Biden administration’s COVID response chief science officer, said that coronavirus variants might make booster shots necessary.
Kessler, who said that currently authorized vaccines are highly protective, added that so-called new variants could “challenge” vaccine efficacy.
“We are studying the durability of the antibody response,” he said. “It seems strong but there is some waning of that and no doubt the variants… make these vaccines work harder. So I think for planning purposes, planning purposes only, I think we should expect that we may have to boost.”
