Pfizer CEO says it is working on annual COVID-19 vaccines

People will probably have to have annual dose vaccinations for many years, the head of Pfizer told the BBC. CEO Dr Albert Bourla said he felt it was necessary to maintain a "very high level of protection".

The UK has now secured an extra 114 million doses of Pfizer and Modern vaccines to be delivered in the next two years.

One year ago, the UK was the first country to approve the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

The head of Pfizer's spoke talked to BBC before the emergence of the Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa and also before the announcement that the UK government had signed contracts for the 54 million additional Pfizer BioNTech and 60 million Modern doses for 2022 to buy and 2023.

It includes access to modified vaccines when needed to combat Omicron and future variants of concerns, the health department said.

Dr Bourla said Pfizer had already made updated vaccines in response to the beta, also first identified in South Africa, and Delta, first identified in India, variants but that they were not needed.

The company is currently working on an updated jab in response to the Omicron variant, which could be completed in 100 days.

He said vaccinations helped save millions of lives during the pandemic, and without them, the "fundamental structure of our society" would be threatened.

By the end of the year, Pfizer expects three billion doses of its messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine, with four billion planned to be delivered next year.

It would have been a global race to protect the people, Dr Bourla said, but by 2022, countries would have "as many doses as they need".

Some worldwide health charities see the money-making Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna out of the pandemic as immoral.

Pfizer will generate at least $ 35 billion in covid vaccine sales this year and has seen its share price rise. But while most people in the world now have at least one covid jab, in parts of Africa, there is less than one person in 20.

Dr Bourla was not excused for making a profit, saying "the bottom line is saving millions of lives." He continued, "We have saved the world economy trillions of dollars.

"It is a strong incentive for innovation for the next pandemic.

"But people will see that if they go up to the game to bring something that saves lives and saves money, there will also be a financial reward."

He declined the benefit - saying the jab was the "cost of a takeaway meal" for richer countries but sold without profit at low incomes - but accepted rich countries like Britain had made early orders and availability was Initially limited.

Having to be stored at -70C, Pfizer vaccination was complicated to install in countries with limited health services.

But within a month or so, Pfizer says it will roll out a new formulation of the vaccine that could be stored for three months in a refrigerator, which Dr Bourla said would make a "gigantic difference" to sub-Saharan African countries to make.

Pfizer has also developed an antiviral pill, Paxlovid, which in studies has reduced hospital admissions and deaths by almost 90%.

It was to be approved shortly in the US, and the UK government agreed enough to buy 250,000 patients.