There has been some discussion of irrational mutant fears here. So today, from the CEO of Pfizer:
Quote:
Annual Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Shots Likely Needed, Pfizer CEO Says
By Jared S. Hopkins
Updated April 15, 2021 7:57 pm ET
Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Albert Bourla said it is likely that people who receive Covid-19 vaccines will need booster shots within a year afterward, and then annual vaccinations, to maintain protection against the virus as it evolves.
“The variants will play a key role. It is extremely important to suppress the pool of people that can be susceptible to the virus,” Mr. Bourla said during a virtual event hosted by CVS Health Corp. that aired Thursday but was recorded April 1.
“There are vaccines like polio where one dose is enough,” Mr. Bourla said. “And there are vaccines like flu that you need every year. The Covid virus looks more like the influenza virus than the polio virus.”
More research is required to confirm the need for annual booster shots, he said. But he added that the need appeared likely given research so far.
. . . New shots or boosters might be necessary, vaccine experts say, if the virus mutates significantly enough . . . .
In February, Pfizer and BioNTech began a study testing in people whether a third dose of the companies’ inoculation can protect against emerging variant strains.
Moderna Inc. executives have also said they expect boosters to be needed to ensure protection lasts in vaccinated people. The company recently started studying whether a booster shot of its two-dose vaccine is effective against a variant of the virus.
Countries with high vaccination rates will be ready to shift their focus to boosters possibly at the end of this year, Moderna said during a company vaccine event this week. Moderna President Stephen Hoge said it is safe to assume boosters would be needed “annually, probably seasonally, even though the pandemic is raging in a nonseasonal way” . . . .
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/annual-...d=hp_lead_pos7
As I've explained, I am perhaps a little more sanguine than these biotech CEOs in that I think if the current vaccines work as well as they seem to we could suppress infection rates, and hence viral mutation rates, enough to make the rise of new mutant strains a pretty rare event. But that would take most people in the developed world putting aside their vaccine hesitancy and it would take a massive campaign to get the developing world vaccinated. I don't think we'll be able to do that in one year but maybe in 3-5.