Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla spoke at a press conference with the European Commission President after he visited the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine factory in Puurs.
Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, said on Monday that the company's vaccine may not provide strong protection against the omicron Covid variant and that the original shots have lost some of their effectiveness.
The importance of a third shot was emphasized by Bourla in an interview.
Bourla said that the two doses were not enough for omicron. The current vaccine provides decent protection against deaths and hospitalizations.
Bourla said that omicron is more difficult than previous versions. The original two shots from Pfizer can be evaded by Omicron.
The first thing that we lost was the protection against infections, Bourla said. Two months later, what used to be very strong in hospitalization also went down. I think this is what everyone is worried about.
According to data from the U.K. Health Security Agency, two vaccine doses are effective at preventing hospitalization 25 weeks after receiving the second shot.
The U.K. data shows that Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines are only 10% effective at preventing infections from omicron after the second dose.
The data shows that a booster dose is up to 75% effective at preventing infections and up to 85% effective at preventing hospitalization.
It is not known how long a booster dose will protect against Covid. The U.K. Health Security Agency found that boosters were only 40% to 50% effective against infections after 10 weeks.
The question is how long the protection lasts with the third dose.
Some people with compromised immune systems should get four shots, three primary doses and one booster, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People over the age of 60 are getting fourth Pfizer doses. Israel found that the fourth dose increased the protective antibodies fivefold.
Bourla told CNBC that Pfizer will have a vaccine that targets omicron ready in March, but it is not clear if it will be needed or not.
Bourla told CNBC that more tests need to be done to determine if fourth doses are necessary.
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