A COVID-19 vaccine that can resist the Omicron variant should be ready by March, the head of Pfizer Inc, the American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, said on Monday, 10 January.
"This vaccine will be ready in March. We (are) already starting manufacturing some of these quantities at risk," Albert Bourla told CNBC’s Squawk Box, a chat show on the news channel.
The Omicron variant, designated as a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization, has been rampaging across the world, even amongst the vaccinated.
While assuring viewers that the vaccine will be ready in March, he also went to say that he doesn't know if the world will need it.
"I don't know if and how it will be used."
Data studies conducted in the United Kingdom have shown that the vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna are only about 10 percent effective at preventing a symptomatic infection caused by the Omicron variant 20 weeks after the second jab.
The United Kingdom Health Security Agency, which conducted the study, also concluded however, that the original two doses continue to provide decent protection against severe effects of COVID.
Additionally, the study presented booster shots as an effective strategy to prevent a symptomatic infection.
Bourla seemed to be saying the same thing when he said that the existing vaccines along with a booster gives "reasonable" protection against the severity of Omicron.
He also added, however, that a vaccine that is made to just resist Omicron would indeed protect against breakthrough infections of the highly contagious strain.
(With inputs from CNBC)
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