Pfizer’s CEO said Thursday that people will likely need a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine within a year of being inoculated — as a top US scientist warned that immunity from the shots does appear to wane eventually.
It’s “likely” that a booster will be necessary within 12 months of the two-dose regimen, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said.
“It is extremely important to suppress the pool of people that can be susceptible to the virus,” Bourla told CNBC.
He said it’s possible that people will need to get a COVID-19 shot annually.
Earlier in the day, Dr. David Kessler, the chief science officer on President Biden’s coronavirus response team, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that research indicates that vaccine immunity levels appear to diminish over time.
“We don’t know everything at this moment,” he testified.
“We are studying the durability of the antibody response. It seems strong, but there is some waning of that and no doubt the variants [are a] challenge … They make these vaccines work harder.”
But Kessler said Americans can expect to receive a booster shot down the line.
“I think we should expect that we may have to boost, and probably have to boost again,” Kessler said.
“No decision, but the current thinking is that certainly, those who are more vulnerable may have to go first,” he added.
“But I think [as] you have with many vaccines, we understand that [at] a certain point in time, we need to boost, whether that’s at nine months or 12 months. We are preparing for that.”
