Pfizer CEO confident that its COVID-19 vaccine protects against more severe Delta variant
Pfizer's CEO is expressing confidence about the efficacy of his company's COVID-19 vaccine against the Delta variant, which was first discovered in India and has America's top scientists sounding the alarm.
"I feel quite comfortable that we cover it," Pfizer CEO and Chairman Albert Bourla told CBS News' Jan Crawford. "We will not need a special vaccine for it. The current vaccine should cover it."
The United States is about to reach 600,000 recorded coronavirus deaths, even with conditions dramatically improving thanks to widespread vaccination.
Over the weekend, leaders from the world's seven wealthiest democracies committed to donating more than one billion vaccine doses to poorer countries over the next year. The U.S. is contributing about half of those doses through a partnership with Pfizer.
And Bourla believes Pfizer is ready to leap into action with new vaccines to protect against the possible variants within 100 days.
"We have surveillance systems in all the countries — all over the world —when a new variant emerges, immediately, we are testing how the current vaccine behaves compared to this variant," he said.
The Pfizer CEO said a need for booster shots to existing vaccines has not yet been determined, but studies were running to find out whether it was necessary.
But based on the data, he said Pfizer is anticipating people will need a booster shoot — essentially a third dose — within eight to 12 months of their second shot.
By fall, Pfizer also hopes to reformulate its COVID-19 vaccine so it will not require super cold storage, and it anticipates the vaccine will also be approved for children as young as five. ...
