Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the prospect of annual coronavirus vaccinations is a more palatable sell to the public than booster shots every four to five months.
Bourla, in a recent interview with Israel’s Channel 12, said the idea of ongoing frequent boosters is “not a good scenario.”
“What I’m hoping that we will have, it is a vaccine that we will have to do once a year like we do for many other things,” he said, CNN reported.
As of Tuesday, only 53% of the U.S. population that is eligible for a booster shot has received one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Bourla said people getting the shot once a year will be easier for them to remember.
“From a public health perspective, it is an ideal situation,” he said, CNN reported. “We are looking to see if we can create a vaccine that covers omicron and doesn’t forget the other variants and that could be a solution unless if something completely different comes out.”
Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, developed alongside BioNTech, is one of three currently approved by U.S. health officials and the only one authorized for children between ages 5 and 17.