As more people in the United States and around the world receive the COVID vaccine for the first time, many feel hopeful that the next few months will finally see an end to the global pandemic. But the emergence of variants of the virus that could make current vaccines less effective has forced experts to question how often we will need to be immunized against the new coronavirus in the future, including executives at the companies that developed them. And according to Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, we will probably need to receive a boost from the COVID vaccine annually – but it could be part of another annual medical ritual, he said recently Forbes. Read on to see how he thinks the future will look for immunizations and to learn more about what you should avoid after getting the vaccines, see Don’t do this until a month after your COVID vaccine, experts warn.
Moderna’s CEO believes that COVID vaccines can become an annual tradition.
As head of one of the first companies to successfully develop a highly effective COVID-19 vaccine, Bancel discussed the emergence of new variants of the virus and how the medical community will deal with the virus in the future. He admitted that an annual or half-yearly injection would probably be used to keep him away, not unlike current practices for other illnesses.
“You can end something like the flu, where every year, every two years, you need a backup,” said Bancel Forbes. He also said that Moderna had already submitted a new version of the vaccine focusing on the South African variant B.1.351 to the National Institutes of Health for testing and that another version that can be stored at standard refrigerator temperatures has already started clinical trials.
Bancel believes that Moderna can also improve the annual flu vaccine.
But the executive also recently announced that the annual vaccination process may be slightly different thanks to the newly developed products. During an appearance in Wall Street Journal health forum on March 23, Bancel said Moderna was currently working on a single annual injection that would not only target both flu and COVID, but would also increase the effectiveness of the flu vaccine in the current range from 30 to 60 percent to 90 Percent. Still, he admitted that the official approval process could take years, as opposed to the rapid return granted to the current vaccine by regulators.
“Today, the vaccines we have for seasonal flu are good in a great year, and they are very bad in a bad year, in terms of effectiveness,” he said. “It is not impossible that in a few years we will have the product I just talked about – a highly effective seasonal flu vaccine and a COVID vaccine – for you each year at your pharmacy.” And to learn more about what you shouldn’t do after receiving the vaccines, check out Dr. Fauci Just Said to avoid this one place, even if you are vaccinated.
Bancel said earlier that he does not believe that COVID will leave in the future.
This is not the first time that the CEO of the pharmaceutical industry admits to thinking that COVID will still be an enemy for some time to come. In January, CNBC reported that during a panel discussion at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, Bancel predicted what he believed COVID’s future would be post-pandemic.
“SARS-CoV-2 is not going away,” said Bancel, suggesting that the virus would become “endemic” and circulate permanently at low levels, although it rarely caused serious illness. “We are going to live with this virus, we think, forever.”
Pfizer’s CEO also predicted that people will need an annual injection of COVID.
Bancel is also not alone in his beliefs that COVID’s shots could become an annual event. During an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt in February, CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla discussed ongoing tests for a potential third dose of his company’s vaccine to make it more effective against mutant versions of the virus, including the highly transmissible South African variant. He stressed that such mutations should be expected in any virus and that is why annual injections are necessary for other diseases.
“Every year, you need to get the flu shot,” said Bourla. “It will be the same with COVID. In one year, you will have to get your annual injection for COVID to be protected.” And for more information on immunization, see The Pfizer vaccine may be less effective if you have this common condition.