Pfizer is streamlining research on COVID-19 vaccines because there is a “high chance” that existing shots against the deadly bug will not be effective in the future.
“It is very likely that one day this will happen,” Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said during a panel at the 2021 World Economic Forum in Davos.
Bourla hopes to reduce the time it takes from recognizing a pandemic-scale infectious disease threat to vaccination authorization to 100 days or less, according to Business Insider. It’s a third of the time of the Trump Administration’s Warp Speed operation.
COVID vaccines were produced at a record speed thanks to technological advances, great funding efforts and the public willingness to participate in trials, the Daily Mail reported.
New York-based Pfizer, which developed its vaccine with German BioNTech, came out the door first with a COVID-19 vaccine approval.
Bourla said the company never dreamed its vaccine would be 95% effective. “Almost perfect,” he boasted. The Pfizer feature is one of two versions offered in New York City.
In contrast, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is only 66% effective, although it is better at preventing hospitalization and death than the disease itself.
Bourla said he intends to make sure the Pfizer shot stays very effective as the virus mutates. So far, it has only been tested with laboratory versions of the variants found in the UK and South Africa, both of which appeared in the US.
The CEO also addressed distribution issues, which he acknowledged were rugged. “I am very optimistic, very soon we will be able to deliver the doses we have promised the world,” Bourla said. In early summer, the world should have the supply it needs, he said. Pfizer aims to produce 2 billion doses.