Annual Covid vaccinations will likely be needed for years to come to maintain a ‘very high level of protection’, says the head of Pfizer, Dr Albert Bourla.
He said in an interview with the BBC that the company was now working on an updated vaccine in response to the Omicron variant, which could be ready in 100 days.
Bourla said vaccines had helped save millions of lives during the pandemic, and without them the ‘fundamental structure of our society would be threatened’.
The BBC reports that, while several global health charities see the money Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna are making out of the pandemic as immoral – with Pfizer likely generating at least $35bn of Covid vaccine sales this year, and seeing its share price soar – Bourla was unapologetic about making a profit, saying that ‘the bottom line is millions of lives were saved’.
He is quoted as saying: ‘We have saved the global economy trillions of dollars. It is a strong incentive for innovation for the next pandemic.’
Bourla added that ‘people will see that if they step up to the game, to bring something that saves lives and saves money, there is also a financial reward’.
He denied profiteering – saying the jab was the ‘cost of a takeaway meal’ for richer countries but sold at no profit to low-income ones – but accepted that rich countries such as the UK had placed orders early and availability had initially been limited.