Europe 1 with AFP 6:48 p.m., November 29, 2021

With several versions to its credit, Pfizer has already started work on a new version of its anti-Covid vaccine.

The American group is working, this time, on a version that can fight the new Omicron variant.

Pfizer has already started work on a new version of its anti-Covid vaccine more specifically targeting Omicron in case the current vaccine is not sufficiently effective against the new variant. "We must first conduct tests to assess the effectiveness of current vaccines, developed with BioNTech, against Omicron. But if the (current) vaccine protects less and we need to create a new vaccine, we have started to work. We did our first DNA model, which is the first step in the development of a new vaccine, "Albert Bourla told CNBC. The CEO of Pfizer, however, assures to be "quite confident" in the vaccine currently distributed, because he believes to have arrived "at the right dosage from the start". 

Find the morning show of Europe 1 in podcast

Pfizer has already created in the past two new versions of its vaccine in less than a hundred days, against the Delta and Beta variants, which were ultimately not used.

If necessary, "in 95 days, we will have the new vaccine" against Omicron, assured Mr. Bourla.

The Moderna laboratory, which also produces a vaccine against Covid, announced on Friday its intention to develop a specific booster dose for Omicron.

An anti-Covid pill developed in parallel

The anti-Covid pill developed by Pfizer to treat the disease, which has shown an effectiveness of 89% against hospitalizations and deaths during clinical trials, was also "developed with the idea" that mutations of the virus would appear , also noted Albert Bourla.

"I am very, very confident in the ability (of the pill) to work with all mutations, including Omicron," he said.