Pfizer CEO unsure on need for 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said on Monday he was unsure about the need for a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine and that a shot targeting the highly contagious omicron variant would be ready in March.

Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said on Monday he was unsure about the need for a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine and that a shot targeting the highly contagious omicron variant would be ready in March. (Emily Elconin, Reuters)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NEW YORK — Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said on Monday he was unsure about the need for a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine and that a shot targeting the highly contagious omicron variant would be ready in March.

The comments contrasted with those made by Moderna CEO Stephen Bancel, who said last week people could need another shot in the fall of 2022 as the efficacy of boosters was likely to decline over the next few months.

A huge omicron-driven spike in COVID-19 cases has forced some nations to look to another booster dose, but early signs suggest repeat vaccination may be a hard sell as beleaguered populations enter their third pandemic year.

"I don't know if there is a need for a fourth booster, that is something that needs to be tested," Bourla said on CNBC, ahead of Pfizer's presentation at the J.P. Morgan healthcare conference.

Work is ongoing on a new version of COVID-19 vaccine that would be effective against omicron and other variants, he said.

The U.S. drugmaker earlier in the day announced three deals to broaden the use of the messenger RNA technology that its COVID-19 vaccine was based on, including a pact worth as much as $1.35 billion with gene-editing specialist Beam Therapeutics.

Pfizer has been looking to advance the development of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics after it led global efforts to develop a COVID-19 shot against the pandemic.

The company will also collaborate with Codex DNA to leverage the biotech's proprietary technology, which could enable more efficient development of mRNA-based vaccines, therapeutics and other biopharma products.

The deal with private biotech Acuitas Therapeutics will focus on the use of the Vancouver-based company's lipid nanoparticle technology for developing up to ten vaccines or therapeutics.

Related stories

Most recent Coronavirus stories

Related topics

CoronavirusU.S.
Bhanvi Satija, Manojna Maddipatla and Mrinalika Roy

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button