Bourla said the two-dose vaccine has lost its protective power against infection and its ability to prevent hospitalization has also dropped.
Summary
- John Thys | AFP | Getty ImagesPfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Monday said two doses of the company’s vaccine may not provide strong protection against infection from the Covid omicron variant, and the original shots have also lost some of their efficacy at preventing hospitalization.
- Bourla, in an interview at J.P. Morgan’s health-care conference, emphasized the importance of a third shot to boost people’s protection against omicron.
- “The two doses, they’re not enough for omicron,” Bourla said.
- “The third dose of the current vaccine is providing quite good protection against deaths, and decent protection against hospitalizations.”
- Real-world data from the United Kingdom has found that two vaccine doses are 52% effective at preventing hospitalization 25 weeks after receiving the second shot, according to data from the U.K. Health Security Agency.