针对新冠病毒Omicron变种的疫苗已经开始投产

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美国辉瑞（Pfizer）药厂表示，针对新冠病毒Omicron变种的疫苗已经开始投产，将于3月准备就绪。尽管目前美国未有要求生产针对Omicron变种的疫苗，辉瑞表示将进行实验确认接种新疫苗的必要性。

辉瑞行政总裁布拉（Albert Bourla）在1月10日接受美国全国广播公司商业频道（CNBC）节目访问时，表示他们已完成针对Omicron变种的疫苗开发，并已开始投产。疫苗在3月时会准备就绪。

新疫苗除可对付Omicron外，还可应对Delta等其他正在流行的变种株。布拉表示，目前只要接种3剂的辉瑞疫苗已可提供足够合理的保护，预防重症及住院。但他们希望能提供更好的保护，特别是针对预防感染的保护。

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Omicron 可能不仅传播速度快，且危害性也不低。否则还要特别针对它的疫苗干什么呢？

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Pfizer is working on a hybrid vaccine that will cover coronavirus variants including omicron, with plans to seek regulatory clearance by March if needed, said the pharmaceutical giant’s chief executive officer Albert Bourla.

Bourla made the comments at an annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference on Monday afternoon, where he discussed the company’s plans and challenges surrounding the highly transmissible omicron variant. An edited transcript of the comments were made available on Pfizer’s website.

“Omicron is very — way more challenging target. So the two doses, they are not enough for omicron. The third dose of the current vaccine is providing quite good protection against deaths and decent protection against hospitalization. So most of the people that they are ending up in hospital are unvaccinated with omicron. They are not people that they had the vaccine,” said the Pfizer PFE, +0.93% CEO.

He said the main question is how long protection will last with the third dose, with recommendations in the U.S. for immunocompromised people to receive a fourth shot. He said manufacturing capacity is already moving to make the newest version of the vaccine that covers older and newer variants including omicron.

Bourla also said Pfizer will be able to make 120 million Paxlovid treatments, or 3.6 billion tablets, this year. The ramp-up comes as several governments have expressed interest in stockpiling, which works for Paxlovid as it has a two-to-three year shelf life.

The CEO also provided his thoughts on the virus’ progression and where the world currently stands.

“I think we are in a way better place right now than where we were a year ago. First of all, we have vaccines that they work, and we have manufacturing
capacity that now has reached a peak,” he said, but added that the ever-changing virus and its variants that have spread globally make it “very, very difficult to eradicate.”