Pfizer CEO Albert Burla * said Wednesday that a fourth dose of the Covid vaccine may be required earlier than expected due to the rapidly spreading Omicron strain.
In a conversation with the American network CNBC, Burla said that initially he expected the need for a fourth dose 12 months after the third, it may be needed sooner.
Pfizer CEO says:
“When we see the real data, we will determine how long the third dose gives protection against Omicron.”
The Pfizer CEO said people may need a fourth Covid-19 shot earlier than expected after preliminary research showed that the new Omicron strain could weaken the protective antibodies produced by a vaccine developed by the company with BioNTech.
Pfizer and BioNTech released the results of an initial laboratory study Wednesday morning that showed a third dose of the vaccine was effective against the Omicron strain, while the initial series of two doses was significantly less effective against the new strain.
Burla noted that the company’s preliminary research was based on a synthetic, laboratory-created copy of the variant, and more data is needed from tests against the real virus. These real results will be more accurate and are expected in the next two weeks, the Pfizer CEO said.
“When we see the real data, we will determine if Omicron is covered by the third dose and for how long. And the second point, I think we will need a fourth dose, ”Burla told CNBC’s Squawk Box.
Burla had previously predicted that the fourth injection would be required 12 months after the third dose. “As for the omicron, we have to wait and see because we have very little information. We may need it faster, ”he said.
The Pfizer CEO said the most important thing right now is to vaccinate the third doses during the winter. Public health officials are worried about a spike in Covid infections as people gather more and more indoors to escape the cold.
“I think the third dose will give very good protection,” Burla said. He also said that treatments such as Pfizer, Paxlovid oral antiviral pills would help prevent hospitalizations and control Covid in winter.
Full story, including Burla’s interview, on video: CNBC
PS and after the 4th dose, the fifth dose may become necessary and so on and so on … and the Covid-19 virus will continue to mutate when most of the world’s population in poor countries remains unvaccinated.
It should be noted that the pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. increased its net profit by 5.5 times in the third quarter of 2021, revenue by 8.5 times, and also improved the annual forecast.
According to a press release from Pfizer, its July-September net income was $ 8.146 billion, up from $ 1.469 billion in the same period last year. Earnings per share increased to $ 1.42 from $ 0.26 a year earlier.
It is only natural that the company will struggle to maintain the source of its fabulous profits. And it is quite possible that in some secret laboratory of this company (or their colleagues) they are developing new strains of the virus. After all, as the classic wrote 160 years ago: “Provide 10%, and the capital agrees to any use, at 20% it becomes lively, at 50% it is positively ready to break its head, at 100% it violates all human laws, at 300% it does not a crime that he would not risk, even on pain of the gallows. If noise and abuse are profitable, capital will contribute to both. Proof: smuggling and slave trade. “
Photo meeting Alberta Burla with Mitsotakis in 2020. There are at least 3 versions that they agreed on, except for the official one – on the priority delivery of vaccines, which they quickly forgot about and which they never fulfilled.
* Burla Albert – Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, a native of Greece, a veterinarian by training. In 1979-1985 he studied at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. PhD, Biotechnology Reproduction.
In a conversation with the American network CNBC, Burla said that initially he expected the need for a fourth dose 12 months after the third, it may be needed sooner.
Pfizer CEO says:
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