Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla addresses a press conference after a visit to oversee the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at the factory of U.S.
Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said on Tuesday that the omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 appears to be milder than previous strains, but also seems to spread faster and could lead to more changes in the future.
Bourla told The Wall Street Journal that he didn't think it was good news to have something that spread quickly. It will be in billions of people and there may be another one. You don't want that.
The White House's chief medical advisor said over the weekend that reports from South Africa suggest that omicron is not as severe as first thought.
Most patients admitted to a hospital in Pretoria who had Covid did not need supplemental oxygen, according to a report released on Saturday. Many patients were admitted for other medical reasons and found to have Covid.
It is not easy to draw definitive conclusions from the wave of infections in South Africa. Less than 5% of South Africans are over the age of 60, and younger people are more likely to have milder cases of Covid. He said that many people in South Africa are HIV positive, which could lead to more severe disease from Covid.
The number of confirmed omicron cases is expected to increase over the next few weeks.
Bourla said that they would have a good understanding of what it means before the end of the year.
Bourla said that Pfizer can develop a vaccine that targets omicron by March 2022, but it is not clear if there is a need for a new shot. He said it will take a few weeks to determine if the current vaccines provide enough protection against the variant.
Bourla said Pfizer is confident that Paxlovid will be able to fight all the different types of the virus that have emerged so far. The pill blocks the virus from replicating.
Most of the virus's changes have occurred on the spike protein, the mechanism it uses to attach to human cells, Bourla said. He said that vaccines and treatments that target the spike protein may need to be updated.
It is more difficult for the virus to evolve in a way where it can live without Paxlovid.
It is difficult for the virus to create a strain that can live without this protease. It is not impossible. It is very difficult.
