Pfizer is working on a hybrid vaccine that will cover coronavirus variants including omicron, with plans to seek regulatory clearance by March if needed, said the pharmaceutical giant’s chief executive officer Albert Bourla.
Bourla made the comments at an annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference on Monday afternoon, where he discussed the company’s plans and challenges surrounding the highly transmissible omicron variant. An edited transcript of the comments were made available on Pfizer’s website.
“Omicron is very — way more challenging target. So the two doses, they are not enough for omicron. The third dose of the current vaccine is providing quite good protection against deaths and decent protection against hospitalization. So most of the people that they are ending up in hospital are unvaccinated with omicron. They are not people that they had the vaccine,” said the Pfizer
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He said the main question is how long protection will last with the third dose, with recommendations in the U.S. for immunocompromised people to receive a fourth shot. He said manufacturing capacity is already moving to make the newest version of the vaccine that covers older and newer variants including omicron.
Bourla also said Pfizer will be able to make 120 million Paxlovid treatments, or 3.6 billion tablets, this year. The ramp-up comes as several governments have expressed interest in stockpiling, which works for Paxlovid as it has a two-to-three year shelf life.
The CEO also provided his thoughts on the virus’ progression and where the world currently stands.
“I think we are in a way better place right now than where we were a year ago. First of all, we have vaccines that they work, and we have manufacturing
capacity that now has reached a peak,” he said, but added that the ever-changing virus and its variants that have spread globally make it “very, very difficult to eradicate.”
