Pfizer CEO says this is how often you’ll need a COVID vaccine

Right now, most Americans are still waiting for their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Growing research has shown that the two existing vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer – and one from Johnson & Johnson pending approval – are highly effective in protecting against the disease. But getting a COVID vaccine this year may not offer the kind of protection needed all at once, says Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, which says maybe photos need to become an annual event. Read on to see what the executive had to say about the future of the coronavirus fight, and to find out more about what other vaccinations might already do for you, check out This Another Vaccine Could Already Protect You. of COVID, according to a study.

In an interview with NBC News’ Lester holtBourla discussed ongoing trials for a potential third dose of Pfizer vaccine to make it more effective against mutated versions of the virus, including the highly transmissible South African variant. He pointed out that these mutations are the nature of viruses and why annual injections are needed for some every season.

“Every year you have to go get your flu shot,” Bourla said. “It will be the same with COVID. In a year you will have to go get your annual vaccine for COVID to be protected.”

Still, other experts have pointed out that the actual length of time between booster injections is still being determined. “You have to cast a wide net to find Goldilocks,” John Grabenstein, PhD, former executive director of medical affairs for vaccines at Merck and former Department of Defense immunologist, told NBC News. “You want to watch at shorter intervals, you want to watch at longer intervals, to determine when is the best time, if necessary, to revaccinate.” And to learn more about the new guidelines for once you’ve been vaccinated, check out CDC says you don’t have to do this again once you’re vaccinated.

But Bourla is not the only one to say that SARS-CoV-2 will become a permanent enemy. On January 13, CNBC reported that during a panel discussion at the JPMorgan Healthcare conference, the CEO of Moderna Stephane Bancel predicted what he believed to be the future effects of COVID on the world.

“SARS-CoV-2 will not go away,” Bancel said, meaning the virus would become “endemic” and circulate constantly at low levels while rarely causing serious illness. “We are going to live with this virus, we think, forever.”

To help predict the trajectory of COVID, a study published in Science Jan. 12 created a model, finding that “once the endemic phase is reached and primary exposure is in childhood, CoV-2 may not be more virulent than the common cold”. Future interactions with the virus would be a far cry from the serious threat it currently poses. Researchers are convinced that it will ultimately be mostly harmless, with the exception of an emerging strain that causes severe illness in children.

As a brand new threat to the immune system, COVID-19 is currently wreaking so much havoc as very few people are immune to the foreign pathogen. COVID will likely become an endemic illness once most people are vaccinated or exposed to the virus. And for more on what to remember after your injections, see Don’t do this until a month after your COVID vaccine, experts warn.