The CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla said Thursday that people will “likely” need to get a third booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine within 12 months of being fully vaccinated.
He also said it’s possible that people may need to be vaccinated against the virus on an annual basis. “It is extremely important to suppress the pool of people that can be susceptible to the virus,” Bourla said.
Earlier this month, Pfizer said the latest data from its clinical trial showed its vaccine to be highly effective six months after the second dose was given. Pfizer and BioNTech have already begun testing on a third dose, and are specifically looking to see how it does against the new variants of the virus.
As highly-contagious variants emerge across the U.S., urgency is growing to supplement the vaccine protection of Pfizer and Moderna’s two-dose vaccines before we into the fall and winter seasons.
On that note, Moderna today announced it expects to have its own COVID booster shot available by the fall. The company intends to send its testing data on the booster to U.S. regulators in a few months.