The US pharmaceutical Pfizer said on Monday that it expects to have in March a new vaccine against covid-19 that improves protection against the omicron variant. The CEO of Pfizer, Albert bourlaHe explained that it is not yet clear if this new product will be necessary, but said that his company is already beginning to manufacture the first doses given that some countries want to have them as soon as possible.
“The hope is that we achieve something that has much better protection, in particular against infections, because the protection against hospitalizations and serious illness right now is reasonable with the current vaccines, as long as the third dose has been administered, “Bourla told CNBC television.
The CEO of Pfizer explained that the new version seeks a increased immunity before omicron, but would still offer protection against other variants.
Although the product will be ready in March, Bourla made it clear that still does not know if its use will be necessary, doubts that he extended to the use of a fourth dose of the current vaccine, which countries such as Israel have already begun to test.
“I don’t know if there is a need for a fourth booster dose, but it has to be tested. We will do experiments“, He said.
Meanwhile, the Moderna company hopes to have a new booster dose of its vaccine available next fall specifically designed to combat the omicron variant, its CEO, Stephane Bancel, also interviewed by CNBC, said on Monday.
Bancel explained that the company is in conversations with health authorities around the world to decide the best strategy for administering this possible dose in the fall of the northern hemisphere.
“There are discussions daily. We want to be ready with the best possible product for the fall of 2022 “, stressed the executive.
In December, when it announced that it was starting clinical trials earlier this year for the new booster dose, Modern It has already warned that, if these were successful, it would still take months for the product to be available.
The biotech firm, however, has already closed agreements with countries such as the United Kingdom, South Korea or Switzerland worth about $ 18.5 billion.
Bancel said today that Moderna has the capacity to provide between two and three billion booster doses this year and he assured that the difficulties are no longer in the volume of production, but rather in distribution, especially in developing countries.
In that sense, the executive said that last November his company had daily between 50 and 100 million doses waiting to be shipped to low-income nations.
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Moderna had already anticipated last month that it was going to start working on adapting its product to the new omicron variant, which it is infecting many vaccinated people.
According to studies, vaccines continue to significantly reduce the possibility of suffer a severe case, protection that is even greater in the case of people who have recently received a booster dose.
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