As the omicron variant fuels a COVID-19 surge that has already infected hundreds of thousands in the U.S. during a single week, landed tens of thousands in hospitals and closed schools, there is still hope.
It came this week when Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that his company is developing a vaccine that will be effective against the variant.
“We are working on a new version of our vaccine, a version that will be effective against omicron as well,” he said Monday. “This vaccine will be ready in March.”
According to PBS, current vaccines are only around 30 to 40 percent effective at preventing infections from the omicron variant, which is highly contagious and accounted for more than 95 percent of COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday. In the U.S., those who received two-dose mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna can get a third booster shot to increase this effectiveness to around 70 percent.
While experts believe the variant causes a milder form of COVID-19 than other variants, it has still contributed to record-breaking hospitalization numbers this month.
However, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said last week that the omicron cases could fall as quickly as they decline.
“I do think in places that we are seeing this really steep incline, that we may well see also a precipitous decline,” said Walensky in reference to South Africa, where the variant was first identified. “But we're also a much bigger country than South Africa,” she said, according to ABC News.
“I don’t know if we will need it,” Bourla said of the Pfizer vaccine tailored to fight omicron. “I don’t know if, or how it will be used, but it will be ready. And, in fact, we’re already starting manufacturing.”
He said governments have already expressed interest in stockpiling the vaccine. However, Bourla also cautioned that the future shape of the pandemic is unpredictable and couldn’t confirm the need for a fourth booster.
“I don’t think we should do anything that is not needed,” he said.
Pfizer also said it is working to improve its vaccine formulation – developed jointly with Germany's BioNTech – to “update the current vaccine to address any future variant of potential concern, if needed,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch.
“I wouldn’t say that the future is clearly predicable right now,” Bourla said. “We are doing everything we can so that we can stay ahead of the virus.”
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