“Many variants have emerged and Omicron was the first variant to successfully circumvent the immune protection we are giving,” Bula told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“The protection we get from the third dose (dose) is good enough-it’s actually pretty good for hospitalization and death,” Bourla said.
However, protection after three doses is “not very good against infection” and “doesn’t last very long” when faced with mutants like Omicron.
“For now, we need a quarter (dose),” Bula told CBS.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people over the age of 18 who have been vaccinated with the two-dose Moderna vaccine should receive a booster six months after the second vaccination.
According to the CDC, those who have been vaccinated with a single Johnson & Johnson vaccine should receive a booster two months later.
However, it is not clear if and when the US Food and Drug Administration will allow healthy teens and adults to receive a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“We’re submitting these data to the FDA so we can see what the experts say outside of Pfizer,” Bula told CBS.
Children under the age of 5 may be able to get vaccinated immediately
And children under the age of five are not yet eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine-which may change this spring, Bourla said.
Bourla told CBS on Sunday that Pfizer needs to obtain data on a triple-dose vaccine trial in children aged 6 months to 5 years by April.
If approved by the FDA and recommended by the CDC, the Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 6 months to 5 years could be launched as early as May, Bourla said.
Long-lasting vaccine shots for all variants
Pfizer and Moderna say they are working on a vaccine that specifically protects against Omicron variants, but it is not yet clear if it is needed.
Pfizer also wants to produce a vaccine that protects against Omicron and all other variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, Bula said.
The goal is to create something that can be protected for at least a year, Bula told CBS on Sunday.
“And if we can achieve that, I think it’s very easy to follow and remember so that we can really go back to our previous lives,” he said. Told.
CNN’s Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report.
..
