Moderna CEO says fourth COVID-19 shot could be necessary
The U.K. and South Korea have already ordered the shots
Omicron surge affecting small businesses
DeLuca's Italian Restaurant Owner Rob DeLuca shares how the restaurant industry has been affected by the massive omicron surge on 'Fox Business Tonight.'
The CEO of Moderna says that a fourth coronavirus vaccine shot may soon be necessary due to declining efficacy of booster shots.
"I will be surprised when we get that data in the coming weeks that it’s holding nicely over time — I would expect that it’s not gonna hold great," Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC on Thursday regarding the strength of the booster shots. "I still believe we’re going to need boosters in the fall of ’22 and forward."
Medical syringe is seen with Moderna logo and 'omicron' sign displayed in the background in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on November 29, 2021. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
FORMER ADVISERS PRESS BIDEN TO CHANGE COVID-19 STRATEGY: LIVE WITH IT, NOT SHUT IT DOWN
Bancel says that the United Kingdom and South Korea have already begun ordering the fourth round of shots.
"We have been saying that we believe first this virus is not going away," Bancel said. "We’re gonna have to live with it."
20 December 2021, Rhineland-Palatinate, Bad Kreuznach: Prepared syringes with the vaccine from Moderna are ready at a vaccination campaign. (Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa (Photo by Frank Rumpenhorst/picture alliance via Getty Images)
NAVY DISCHARGES FIRST SAILORS FOR DECLINING COVID-19 VACCINE
Moderna said last month that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine should offer protection against the rapidly spreading omicron variant.
Moderna said lab tests showed the half-dose booster shot increased by 37 times the level of so-called neutralizing antibodies able to fight omicron.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
FILE PHOTO: An employee shows the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital in New York, U.S., December 21, 2020. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo)
And a full-dose booster was even stronger, triggering an 83-fold jump in antibody levels, although with an increase in the usual side effects, the company said. While half-dose shots are being used for most Moderna boosters, a full-dose third shot has been recommended for people with weakened immune systems.
Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich and the Associated Press contributed to this report