Pfizer Inc. chief executive Albert Bourla said people receiving Covid-19 vaccines are likely to need booster vaccines after a year and then annual vaccines to maintain protection against the virus. which evolves.
“Variants will play a key role. It is extremely important to suppress the group of people susceptible to the virus, “Bourla said during a virtual event hosted by CVS Health Corp. that aired Thursday but registered on April 1st.
“There are vaccines like polio where one dose is enough,” Bourla said. “And there are vaccines like the flu you need every year. The Covid virus is more like the flu virus than the polio virus. ”
More research is needed to confirm the need for annual reinforcement shots, he said. But he added that the need seemed likely given the research so far.
The chief executive’s comments come as the United States and other countries compete to vaccinate as many people as possible and try to stay ahead of any variant that could elude the shots.