Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Wednesday suggested that a fourth dose of the COVID vaccine might be necessary as the Omicron variant spreads.
“The best way to see it is the virus is the enemy. We want to protect ourselves. We build a wall. The first dose builds a wall, but it’s not very high,” Bourla explained on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
He continued, “The third dose takes the wall very high and should expect to stop the Omicron. So, people that have two doses, they should get the third one, but if they had two doses, it’s very likely that you are better protected than if they don’t have any or if they have only one because there are different elements of immunity responses.”
“[M]any countries have given fourth dose to immunocompromised and to special population, I think including the U.S., so if you’re immunocompromised, you may get it way sooner than — make it more than three,” Bourla later added. “And I think they are having a precaution. I think when we see real-world data, we’ll determine if the Omicron is well covered by the third dose and for how long. And at a certain point, I think we will need a fourth dose. I have said that multiple times. With the previous, I was projecting that that will be on 12 months after the third dose. With Omicron, we need to wait and see because we have very little information. We may need it faster.”
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