A vaccine against Covid-19 effective against multiple variants by the fall "is a possibility but not a certainty", said Wednesday the boss of the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Albert Bourla.
The laboratory is currently conducting studies to find out what could be the best formula.
"Once we have the data that allows us to decide which (vaccine) is the best," he said, during a press briefing organized by the International Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (Ifpma) .
An announcement which comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) considers that "circulation of the virus is still very active, mortality remains high and the virus is evolving in an unpredictable way" even if last week the organization UN recorded “the lowest number of deaths from Covid-19 since the first days of the pandemic”.
In France, the number of contaminations fell by -3% over one week with 146,426 positive cases identified in 24 hours by Public Health France, but the daily hospitalizations of patients positive for Covid-19 are up by 11% over the same period. .
Lower efficiency with Omicron
Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech have developed one of the first and most effective Covid-19 vaccines first injected into the UK at the end of 2020, less than a year after the disease was detected in China .
This messenger RNA vaccine - like that of Moderna - has seen its effectiveness reduced against the Omicron variant of the virus and its sub-variants which give Covid-19, even if it still protects very effectively against serious symptoms, hospitalizations and the death.
Pfizer is currently testing different vaccines and different doses.
“Once we know what is the best way forward we will apply for registration” in the United States, Europe and elsewhere in the world, he said.
However, the boss of Pfizer sees an increased role in the coming months for treatments against Covid, such as the paxlovid produced by his group.
This treatment - like Merck's which raises more concerns about side effects - should be given within the first few days of the onset of symptoms.
"A vaccine that can last a year"
Albert Bourla bases his prediction for the treatments in particular on the fact that the disease becomes endemic and "will remain with us for a long time", but also on a certain vaccine fatigue because the existing serums - and the infection - do not protect for the moment. only for a relatively short period.
“However, vaccines have a significant role to play,” he insisted.
“For me and for Pfizer, what the world really needs now is a vaccine that can last a year.
This is what would be the optimal solution in terms of public health.
The vaccines that can be taken once a year are easier to administer and it is easier to convince the population to take them and we are working on it, ”he insisted, confirming his January statements.
"I'm not saying it's easy, it's very complicated technically, really very complicated to do it with this virus but we are working on it", according to the boss of Pfizer.
