Fourth COVID shot ‘necessary’ due to waning immunity

Most people need one fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose be protected from the virus, said the Pfizer boss on Sunday.

“For most people, it’s necessary,” CEO Albert Bourla said during an interview on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” when asked if Americans can expect to receive annual COVID booster shots every fall.

The regimen of two starting doses plus a booster dose fails to protect against variants and wears off too quickly, Bourla acknowledged — making additional vaccinations unavoidable.

“Right now the protection you get from the third party [shot]it’s good enough – actually pretty good for hospitalization and death – it’s not that good against infection but doesn’t last very long,” he said.

Pfizer and other companies are working on corresponding recordings protect against future variants.

“Omicron was the first [variant] that has been able to cleverly evade the immune protection we are receiving, but also that the duration of the protection does not last very long,” Bourla told host Margaret Brennan.

“What we’re trying to do and we’re working very diligently right now is to not only make a vaccine that protects against all variants, including Omicron, but also something that can protect for at least a year.”