Ready for a COVID booster shot? Pfizer CEO says one may be needed in 8-12 months

The more time the coronavirus has to hop from one person to another, the more opportunities it gets to transform into more dangerous variants that may gain the power to evade COVID-19 vaccines’ defenses.

So far, evidence shows the available shots still offer superb protection against the five “concerning” coronavirus variants spreading in the U.S., but vaccine developers are racing to determine if their shots will require an extra dose or booster shot to prevent future vaccine failure.

Pfizer, the company behind the first COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized for emergency use in the U.S., is the latest to provide a clearer update on that front.

CEO Albert Bourla revealed during an Axios COVID-19 livestream on Tuesday that data “[supports] the notion that likely there will be a need for a booster somewhere between 8 and 12 months.” The vaccine currently requires two doses for maximum protection.

“But that remains to be seen,” he added. Clinical trials are still underway, meaning available data are mostly preliminary. With time, experts will know of a clearer estimate for booster shots “with higher scientific certainty.”

Just two months ago, Bourla speculated a third dose will “likely” be needed “somewhere between six and 12 months, and then from there, there would be an annual revaccination.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser for President Joe Biden, agrees with Bourla, yet federal health officials have not officially recommended booster vaccines, citing a lack of scientific data.

“I believe [a booster shot] likely will be [needed] within a year,” Fauci said during the Axios livestream. “We know that the vaccine durability of the efficacy lasts at least six months and likely considerably more.”

In April, Pfizer officials announced that its vaccine offers 91.3% protection against COVID-19 for at least six months. That’s just as long as researchers have been studying the vaccine’s effectiveness in a late-stage trial, meaning the vaccine may last longer than that.

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the company will make a third booster vaccine available to Americans by the fall, McClatchy News reported.

Moderna announced in March that it had begun giving clinical trial participants a modified version of its original COVID-19 vaccine designed to protect against the variant that emerged in South Africa, which was shown to lower antibody levels by sixfold in the laboratory. The move was “out of an abundance of caution.”

The reality for COVID-19 vaccines will likely mirror that of flu shots, which require annual vaccinations that are updated by scientists each year depending on which strain of the influenza virus is circulating.

It still remains unclear how long protection from coronavirus vaccines and natural infection lasts.

Third doses of coronavirus vaccines may also prevent breakthrough infections, which is when people get infected two weeks or more after their final vaccine dose. Experts say these cases should be expected, as no vaccine is 100% protective against infection.

As of May 10, about 1,350 people out of more than 115 million who had been fully vaccinated in the U.S. have been hospitalized or died (223) from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 150 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered in Americans’ arms as of May 19. More than 125 million Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, about 38% of the population.

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