A third dose corona vaccine may be necessary to prevent severe cases of new variants of the disease, Bill Gates said Tuesday. The billionaire philanthropist’s comments come amidst the growing concern that current vaccines are less effective against the South African and Brazilian variants.
“The discussion now is: do we just have to get super high coverage of the current vaccine, or do we need a third dose that’s exactly the same, or do we need a modified vaccine?” Gates told “CBS Evening News,” anchor and editor Norah O’Donnell.
“All five of the companies that have US vaccines are trying to make that change and add in, so people who have already had two injections may need a third injection,” he said. “I think it is quite likely that we will have a tailored vaccine to be absolutely sure that as these variants hit the US, they will not escape vaccine protection.”
Gates is funding studies in South Africa to determine whether the AstraZeneca Johnson & Johnson and Novavax vaccines were equally effective against the more contagious variety.
AstraZeneca in particular has a challenge with the variant. And the other two, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax, are slightly less effective, but still effective enough to get them out absolutely ASAP as we study this idea of alignment. the vaccine, ”Gates said.
If the coronavirus is not eradicated, he said, additional shots may be needed in the future. “Probably not annually, but as long as it’s around we don’t want as many Americans as possible to spread it to each other,” he said.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, told CBS News “Face the Nation” on Feb. 7 that he believed the vaccines currently distributed in the US would provide “reasonable protection” against the new variants, even if they are less effective against the new strains. Still, he said, it may also be necessary to administer booster shots in the fall.
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