Pfizer claims 4th dose ‘necessary’ on same day Israel announces 'new wave'
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla Sunday said in an interview that the fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose, which acts as the second booster shot, is now necessary.
"Right now, the way that we have seen, it is necessary, a fourth booster right now,” Bourla told CBS on Face the Nation. “The protection that you are getting from the third, it is good enough, actually quite good for hospitalizations and deaths.”
But Bourla also mentioned that “the protection does not last very long.”
Bourla’s comments appear to be veering away from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines, which recommend the fourth dose only to the immunocompromised. However, the Pfizer CEO seems to be saying that the fourth vaccine is necessary for the general population.
Then, he went on to suggest that an annual vaccine will be needed, dangling the prospect of a return to normalcy.
“Do you think that we will, every fall, have to prepare ourselves with a booster shot for COVID just like we get a flu shot?” asked CBS anchor Margaret Brennan.
“I think so,” answered Bourla. “Many variants are coming.”
"We are working very diligently right now...to make not only a vaccine that will protect against all variants, including Omicron, but also something that can protect for at least a year," he said. "And if we will be able to achieve that, then I think it is very easy to follow and remember so that we can go back to really the way we used to live."
Pfizer’s push for an annual shot is expected. Last month, Frontline News reported on a bombshell video by Project Veritas which showed FDA executive Christopher Cole revealing that Joe Biden wants to mandate an annual shot.
“Biden wants to inoculate as many people as possible...so you’ll have to get an annual shot,” said the FDA executive. “I mean, it hasn’t been formally announced yet, ‘cause they don’t want to rile everyone up.”
Pfizer's revenue doubled in 2021, reaching nearly $37 billion in profits. The pharma giant is expected to make at least 20% more this year.
On the same day that Bourla made these remarks regarding vaccines and new variants, Israel announced the sixth wave of COVID-19.
Israel’s Arutz Sheva reported on Sunday that Israel’s health officials are warning about rising infection rates, just before the government is set to lift its mask mandate on April 1st.
“Officials in the health establishment are very concerned about the increase in the coefficient of infection and coronavirus czar Prof. Salman Zarka has been warning in internal discussions of a sixth wave of COVID-19 infections,” reported the outlet.
"COVID-19 is still here," Zarka told Channel 12, before warning ominously of a return to strict COVID mandates.
"If we see an increase, unfortunately we will be in a trend of change that we will have to think about,” he said.
Israel was the first country to impose the Pfizer vaccine on its population with the introduction of vaccine passports. Israel promised to sell Pfizer the data about the vaccine’s effects on Israelis.
Since then, Israel has continued to be the first country to introduce each succeeding vaccine, including the fourth shot in January, even before data showed that another shot was justified.
