Pfizer CEO: Omicron Vaccine to Be Ready in March

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, on Monday, stated that the omicron vaccine will be ready in March, and the company’s already begun manufacturing the doses.

"This vaccine will be ready in March,” Bourla told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We [are] already starting manufacturing some of these quantities at risk.”

Bourla affirmed that the vaccine will also target the other variants that are circulating, noting that it is still not clear how it would be used.

However, he asserted that Pfizer will have some doses ready since some countries want it ready as soon as possible.

“The hope is that we will achieve something that will have way, way better protection particularly against infections, because the protection against the hospitalizations and the severe disease — it is reasonable right now, with the current vaccines as long as you are having let’s say the third dose,” Bourla said.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pfizer boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds amid the omicron surge.

In a release, the FDA said it has amended the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine to children as schools reopen after the holiday break.

It also shortened the time between the completion of primary vaccination of the vaccine and a booster dose to at least five months, instead of six.

“Authorizing booster vaccination to take place at five months rather than six months may therefore provide better protection sooner for inpiduals against the highly transmissible omicron variant,” the FDA stated.

The agency said it had determined that the protective health benefits and the “continued protection against COVID-19 and the associated serious consequences that can occur including hospitalization and death, outweigh the potential risks in inpiduals 12 through 15 years of age.”