Makers of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 are beginning to focus more on developing boosters, according to Reuters.
It says that the heads of vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer and Moderna have concluded that most adults who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 have already received their shots. Because of that, Reuters says vaccine makers suspect the demand for initial vaccine doses will decline and that the next year will instead focus on vaccines for children and booster shots.
Albert Bourla, Pfizer's CEO, tells Reuters that the coming demand will be from the already vaccinated. Moderna, it notes, further estimates that about 21 percent of the global population could represent a demand for yearly boosters due to age, health factors that put them at high risk, or high-risk occupations such as being in healthcare.
Stephen Saad, CEO of South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare, which makes the Johnson and Johnson vaccines tells Reuters that "there is going to be a place for boosters ... but it is not at the volumes you had before."