Pfizer CEO: COVID-19 will continue to circulate for many years

Bourla along with Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said last week that they are preparing a booster that will treat the newly-introduced Omicron variant.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla introduces US President Joe Biden as the president toured a Pfizer manufacturing plant producing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Kalamazoo, Michigan, US, February 19, 2021. (photo credit: REUTERS/TOM BRENNER)
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla introduces US President Joe Biden as the president toured a Pfizer manufacturing plant producing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Kalamazoo, Michigan, US, February 19, 2021.
(photo credit: REUTERS/TOM BRENNER)

The chief executive officer of Pfizer told French TV station BFM TV on Monday that the coronavirus will continue to circulate for many years to come, but that this current wave should be the last to have to lead to restrictions.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla also told the station that the COVID vaccine was "safe and efficient" for children.

Bourla, along with Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said last week that they are preparing a booster that will treat the newly-introduced Omicron variant.

Pfizer's booster will supposedly be ready in March, while Bancel said that the Moderna booster against Omicron will be ready in the fall, during an interview with CNBC.

While Bourla said that it is unclear if there is a need for a fourth booster, a recent Israeli study conducted at Sheba Medical Center concluded that a fourth vaccine boosts antibodies five-fold a week after the shot is administered, indicating that the vaccine works.

 People pose with syringe with needle in front of displayed words ''OMICRON SARS-COV-2'' in this illustration taken, December 11, 2021 (credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION/FILE PHOTO)Enlrage image
People pose with syringe with needle in front of displayed words ''OMICRON SARS-COV-2'' in this illustration taken, December 11, 2021 (credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION/FILE PHOTO)

Top US infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday that it is too early to say when COVID will become endemic and hopes that it happens this year, adding that this can only happen if no new variants emerge.

The World Health Organization decided to give emergency validation for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on December 31, 2020, in what was one of the first steps in providing a vaccine to help combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Rossella Tercatin contributed to this report.