Pfizer has started working on a version of its Covid 19 vaccine that targets the new Omicron variant, in case the current vaccine is not effective against the latest strain, according to Albert Bourla, the US drugmaker's CEO.
Bourla told CNBC that his company began testing the vaccine against the Omicron variant, which was first reported in South Africa, and has reignited fears of a global wave of Covid 19 infections.
Bourla said that the vaccines don't protect the results and that's why I don't think it's going to be the result.
Bourla said that existing shots could show that existing shots are less protected, which would mean that we need to create a new vaccine.
Friday we made our first DNA template, which is the first possible inflection of the development process of a new vaccine, he said.
Johnson said Monday it is pursuing an Omicron-specific variant vaccine and will progress it as needed. Moderna, another leading Covid 19 vaccine maker, said on Friday it was developing a booster shot against the new variant.
Bourla said the situation was similar to that earlier this year when Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech developed a vaccine in 95 days when there were concerns that the previous formula would not work against Delta, even though that version was not used.
The current vaccine is very effective against Delta, the executive said, and the companies expect to be able to produce four billion vaccine doses in 2022.
The World Health Organization warned that the new Covid 19 Omicron variant poses a very high risk to the world.
Bourla said he was very confident that Pfizer's recently unveiled antiviral pill would work as a treatment for infections caused by the mutations, including Omicron.
The Pfizer's pill has been shown to reduce hospitalization or death by nearly 90 percent among newly-infected, high risk patients treated within three days of the onset of symptoms.