As India readies itself to allow foreign vaccine manufacturers, the revelation by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla around the vaccination will raise more queries around the vaccination drive. This is the second American company to raise this point of an annual booster dose.
In a conversation that was taped on April 1, Bourla was heard saying that people will likely need a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated. This taped conversation was made public on Thursday.
He went on to add that it is possible people will need to get vaccinated against the coronavirus annually, stated a report by CNBC.
“A likely scenario is that there will be likely a need for a third dose, somewhere between six and 12 months and then from there, there will be annual revaccination, but all of that needs to be confirmed. And again, the variants will play a key role,” he told CNBC’s Bertha Coombs during an event with CVS Health.
In the past, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky stated that people may need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 annually, just like seasonal flu shots.
Meanwhile, it is stated that there no clarity yet on how long can the vaccination protect an inoculated individual.
Meanwhile, Pfizer said that its COVID-19 vaccine was more than 91 per cent effective at protecting against the coronavirus and more than 95 per cent effective up to six months after the second dose. Moderna’s vaccine was also shown to be highly effective at six months.
As of April 15, India’s cumulative vaccination coverage exceeds 11.44 crores; over 33 lakh doses given in the last 24 hours. At present, Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin have been administered to the Indian population. The third vaccine to get approval in India is Sputnik V.
