Covid-19 vaccine adapted to omicron to be ready in March, says Pfizer chief

The US laboratory Pfizer expects to have a Covid-19 vaccine adapted to the omicron variant ready by March, the company’s chief reported on Monday.

“I do not know if we will need it, I do not know if it will be used or how, but we will be ready. The factory has already started producing,” Albert Bourla told the US financial channel CNBC.

Bourla indicated in late November that his company had already begun work on a new version of the vaccine aimed more specifically at containing the omicron variant.

“We hope we can come up with a product that protects much better against infections in particular, because protection against hospitalizations and severe cases is quite reasonable with current vaccines if you have received the third dose,” Bourla explained Monday.

However, more studies are needed to determine whether a fourth dose is necessary, he added.

For his part, the general director of the American laboratory Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, indicated that the company is working on a booster dose for this autumn also aimed at attacking the omicron and that it should enter the clinical trial phase “soon”.