“We do not know yet, but it looks like Covid is here to stay” - Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer Inc.

In an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait, one of the people most responsible for helping to vaccinate the world against Covid-19 talks about the new virus variants, dosage, and the difference between the Trump and Biden administrations

- By John Micklethwait. Photograph by Maegan Gindi

JOHN MICKLETHWAIT: How frightened should we be about the new coronavirus variants?

ALBERT BOURLA: We should not be frightened, but we need to be prepared. So we are focusing right now on having a very good surveillance network, so every time that the new variant comes up, we should be able to test, at least in the labs, if the vaccine is effective or not.

Way back, we had discussed the possibility that a variant would arise for which the vaccine would not provide protection. And we were working on a process that will allow us to do the development very fast. Now we have started implementing this process.

I interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said it was especially important to get the second doses on time, because he thought that made a particular difference with the new variants. Do you agree?

I agree with that, absolutely. And I would say that in all scenarios, you need to make sure that you give the second doses within the time the studies recommend. And in our study we had from 19 to 42 days. Within this framework, the vaccine works. Beyond that, it’s a risk.

Is the Covid vaccine going to become like the annual flu shot?

I wouldn’t exclude that. If you were asking me two months ago, I would have said yes, it’s a possibility. If you ask me today, I think it is a high possibility. We do not know yet, but it looks like Covid is here to stay.