People will “likely” need a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine within 12 months of getting the first two, the Pfizer chief executive said.
Dr Albert Bourla said a booster might be needed “somewhere between six and 12 months” after the second – and every year thereafter.
“A likely scenario is that there will probably be 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 this needs to be confirmed,” he said. he told CNBC.
Dr Bourla said the variants “will play a key role” in how often people will need their. COVID immunity grew over time – in the same way that influenza vaccines are updated and re-administered from year to year.
In comments published Thursday, Dr Bourla said the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was found to offer immunity for six months.
He added: “But the protection wanes over time. It is extremely important to remove the pool of people who may be susceptible to the virus.”
In the UK, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said the top four priority groups could be invited for a third booster dose from September.
Clinically extremely vulnerable over 80s, health and social workers and home workers were the first to be vaccinated against coronavirus in December and the first weeks of this year.
They were offered the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, but Mr Zahawi says he expects eight different vaccines to be available by the fall.
The government has ordered 40 million doses of the Valneva vaccine for 2022, “if we need to revaccinate part of the British population,” its vaccination mission said earlier this year.
In the United States, health officials are already preparing to give booster doses between nine and twelve months after people have been fully immunized.
This would mean a third dose for people who have received the Pfizer or Moderna jabs and a second …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-04-15 23:57:00
