There is a good chance that one day a Covid variant will arise that the vaccine is not resistant to. That message brings Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in an interview with the American channel Fox News.
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“Every time a variant appears in the world, our scientists get to work on it,” he says. “They are investigating it to see if the variant can evade the protection of the vaccine. We haven’t found one yet, but we think it’s likely one day. Once that happens, we will need 95 days to develop a vaccine specifically targeting that variant.”
“Security”
Steven Van Gucht, virologist at Sciensano, also predicts that the delta variant will soon give way to a new one – “that’s a certainty, it’s normal business”. That variant may better escape the built-up immunity, but a horror scenario is unlikely. “Such a virus reaches a ceiling,” says Van Gucht. “Compare it with top sport: an Olympic high jumper has optimal form and cannot improve much. It’s about centimeters. With the delta variant, the coronavirus is at the top of its game.”
Virologists have been saying it for some time: the sooner many people are vaccinated, the less chance the virus has to mutate. Pfizer is currently testing the vaccine on children ages 5 to 11 – results are expected in September. “After that, we’ll start with children under 5,” says Bourla.
Bourla gave the interview following the final approval of the vaccine in the United States. Until now, the US had worked with an “emergency approval”, but in Europe the vaccine had already been definitively approved.
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