‘This Covid-19 epidemic will turn into a flu’

For RFI

Given the short duration of the Covid-19 vaccines, it is still unknown how long they protect. Weeks, months, years? The head of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Albert Bourla, has allayed some doubts by stating that after receiving a third dose, people can get vaccinated once a year.

The leader of the American pharmaceutical giant is quite optimistic. He assures that the most likely scenario is that the Covid-19 epidemic will turn into a virus like the flu over time, he said in an interview with television channel NBC.

To do this, he recommends that people who have already received both doses should repeat the injection within 6 or 12 months and then be vaccinated once a year.A likely hypothesis is that a third dose is needed, and from there it will have to be re-vaccinated every year, but all that has to be confirmed, ”said Bourla.

Something similar to what is being done against the flu, many people are vaccinated annually“I think it will be like the flu, we will be vaccinated annually and we will live a normal life,” he added.

The Israeli example

This confident optimist predicts that too We can return to a normal life before the end of the year. And he cites as an example the case of Israel, where mass vaccination has made it possible that from Sunday the outer mask is no longer mandatory. More than 53% of the Israeli population has received both doses of Pfizer.

But to achieve Israeli performance on a global level, many vaccines are needed. Bourla is promising millions of doses in the coming months. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech appear to be winning the Covid vaccine trade race with Messenger RNA technology, which has never been used before.

At least in Europe, where after the fiasco in the delivery of vaccines by the Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca, there is a huge commitment to the American vaccine. “It is a reliable partner that has fulfilled its obligations and has responded to needs,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The unknown of the variants

However, many aspects have yet to be confirmed, on the one hand, the exact duration of protection and, on the other hand, whether this vaccine is effective against the most contagious variants, such as the British or the Brazilian.

Still among the scientific community there is no consensus on the effectiveness of Pfizer against the variants and Bourla himself acknowledges that it is an unknown question that must be resolved. “Variations will play a fundamental role,” he stated.

For RFI

Given the short duration of the Covid-19 vaccines, it is still unknown how long they protect. Weeks, months, years? The head of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Albert Bourla, has allayed some doubts by stating that after receiving a third dose, people can get vaccinated once a year.

The leader of the American pharmaceutical giant is quite optimistic. He assures that the most likely scenario is that the Covid-19 epidemic will turn into a virus like the flu over time, he said in an interview with television channel NBC.

To do this, he recommends that people who have already received both doses should repeat the injection within 6 or 12 months and then be vaccinated once a year.A likely hypothesis is that a third dose is needed, and from there will have to be re-vaccinated every year, but all that has to be confirmed, ”said Bourla.

Something similar to what is being done against the flu, many people are vaccinated annually“I think it will be like the flu, we will be vaccinated annually and we will live a normal life,” he added.

The Israeli example

This confident optimist predicts that too We can return to a normal life before the end of the year. And he cites as an example the case of Israel, where mass vaccination has made it possible that from Sunday the outer mask is no longer mandatory. More than 53% of the Israeli population has received both doses of Pfizer.

But to achieve Israeli performance on a global level, many vaccines are needed. Bourla is promising millions of doses in the coming months. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech appear to be winning the Covid vaccine trade race with Messenger RNA technology, which has never been used before.

At least in Europe, where after the fiasco in the delivery of vaccines by the Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca, there is a huge commitment to the American vaccine. “It is a reliable partner that has fulfilled its obligations and has responded to needs,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The unknown of the variants

However, many aspects have yet to be confirmed, on the one hand, the exact duration of protection and, on the other hand, whether this vaccine is effective against the most contagious variants, such as the British or the Brazilian.

Still among the scientific community there is no consensus on the effectiveness of Pfizer against the variants and Bourla himself acknowledges that it is an unknown question to solve. “Variations will play a fundamental role,” he stated.

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