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Moderna chief says booster vaccination likely to be annual!
Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan hinted Tuesday that his company’s COVID-19 vaccine may require annual boosters – but the other vaccines will be no different!
Annual vaccination needed?
“It may well be that an annual booster is needed, possibly from year to year or every couple of years as the virus changes,” Afeyan said on Fox Business Network during an interview on the program “Mornings with Maria.”
Afeyan added that the pandemic’s impact and death toll are unlike anything experts have seen in the past century. For this reason, uncertainty about what the virus might look like in the future is difficult to overcome.
No one knows how the virus will evolve
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“We just don’t know how this virus is going to evolve from a pandemic to possibly an endemic virus that we have to deal with,” he said. “I think if it gets to that point, we’re going to need constant reinforcements,” he added.
Afeyan also said the initial vaccination provides very good protection if we are infected.
Rebooster vaccinations approved!
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved booster vaccinations. This means that people who are eligible for a booster vaccination can decide for themselves which brand of vaccine to receive, as all three Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved vaccines are considered “exceptionally safe” and “effective.
Boosters are doing well!
Recent CDC data also show that vaccinated Americans are currently receiving their booster shots faster than those receiving their first vaccine dose.
Last week, about 340,000 people received a booster vaccination each day, compared with an average of 157,605 people who received their first vaccination during the same period.