Pfizer CEO: 99 percent chance Delta-specific vaccine won't be necessary

Right now it doesn't seem like a Delta variant-specific COVID-19 vaccine will be necessary because the original shot is holding up well, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday during an interview with The Atlantic.
However, he added that the company will continue to tweak its vaccine to stay ahead of the curve in case things change. "We are in the middle of the process of producing a specific for Delta variant vaccine," he said. "It is 99.9 percent [probable] that we will not need it."
Bourla's confidence in the current vaccine seems to line up with other experts, who don't expect to be seeing a vaccine tailored to Delta anytime soon, even for potential first doses for people who remain unvaccinated. Vox's Sigal Samuel explored the question in a report published Monday, revealing that infectious disease specialists and virologists don't believe the updated vaccines will be needed and could even lead to manufacturing mixups if they're mass-produced. Plus, the regulatory process would simply take up time "that right now we don't have," said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Still, there's agreement that tinkering with the mRNA technology, which can be updated and produced more quickly, will come in handy, especially in the long run because it allows researchers to identify potential hiccups in the process. At the end of the day, it's best to be prepared. Read more at Vox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
‘A legacy news brand brings a visibility of its own’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
8 of the best ‘cozy crime’ series of all time
The Week Recommends Murder mysteries don’t necessarily have to make us miserable, and these shows have perfected a feel-good crime formula
-
Youth revolts rattle Morocco as calls against corruption grow louder
THE EXPLAINER Snowballing controversy over World Cup construction and civic services has become a serious threat to Morocco’s political stability
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the right
Speed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
Why are autism rates increasing?
The Explainer Medical experts condemn Trump administration’s claim that paracetamol during pregnancy is linked to rising rates of neurodevelopmental disorder in US and UK
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shot
Speed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreak
Speed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agency
Speed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Cytomegalovirus can cause permanent birth defects
The Explainer The virus can show no symptoms in adults
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year high
Speed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system