As American waits for the CDC to finish a review of blood-clotting risks associated with Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourlas has warned reporters that recipients of the Pfizer vaccine – the most widely distributed jab in the US – will “likely” need to receive a third “booster” shot within 12 months of being vaccinated, and possibly as early as six months after receiving their second dose.
The news is hardly a surprise. Comments and rumors about the need for booster shots have been reported by the US media since late last year. But on Thursday, Bourlas said a booster shout would likely be necessary, and that patients may need to be vaccinated against COVID annually, similar to the way that flu vaccines are developed and distributed.
“It is extremely important to suppress the pool of people that can be susceptible to the virus,” he told CNBC’s Bertha Coombs during an event with CVS Health. Bourlas added that vaccines will need to be used to combat not just COVID, but the evolving mutant strains – or “variants” – like B.1.1.7, known as the “Kent” strain, which has been blamed for some of the botched rollout in the US.
Bourlas isn’t the only major public health official warning about the need for booster shots. On Thursday, the Biden administration’s Covid response chief science officer David Kessler said Americans should expect to receive booster shots to protect against coronavirus variants. He noted that while the current crop of COVID jabs is highly effective, they could be “challenged” by the new variants.- READ MORE
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