A Third Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Dose Is Likely To Be Required Within A Year

A third dose of the originally two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine may be on the way.

Pfizer has been testing a booster ever since February in order to see if it would add protection from the circulating COVID-19 variants, and the company's CEO now says it may soon be time to roll it out.

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In a CVS Health panel, CEO Albert Bourla says the demand for a third dose is likely to come in "somewhere between 6 and 12 months," and then there could be a need for yearly revaccination, much like the flu vaccine.

Moderna, the company responsible for another two-dose vaccine, is also experimenting with a booster in response to variants that were first identified in the U.K. and South Africa, for example.

CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC that their third booster could become available later in fall or winter 2021.