"3 Doses Offer Reasonable Protection" "New Version of Shot That Will Cover Omicron Will Be Ready In March"
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Monday said two doses of the company’s vaccine may not provide strong protection against infection from the omicron Covid variant, and the original shots have also lost some of their efficacy at preventing hospitalization.
Bourla, in an interview at J.P. Morgan’s healthcare conference, stressed the importance of a third shot to boost people’s protection against omicron.
“The two doses, they’re not enough for omicron,” Bourla said. “The third dose of the current vaccine is providing quite good protection against deaths, and decent protection against hospitalizations.”
Bourla said omicron is a more difficult target than previous variants. Omicron, which has dozens of mutations, can evade some of the protection provided by Pfizer’s original two shots.
Bourla told CNBC earlier Monday that Pfizer will have a vaccine that specifically targets omicron ready in March, though he said it’s not clear whether it will be needed or not.
Bourla also told CNBC more tests need to be done to determine whether or not fourth doses are necessary.
