U.S. drugmaker Moderna announced today that it anticipates the pandemic will be in its final stages by the end of the year in some parts of the world, but the company predicts that seasonal booster shots will be needed for protection against breakthrough infections.
“We do believe that we are transitioning into an endemic phase marked by a period of stability in case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths, at least in the Northern Hemisphere,” Moderna chief medical officer Paul Burton told CNBC on Thursday.
However, Burton warned that cases of infection and death from COVID would continue even in the endemic phase, according to CNBC.
“We can get out of the pandemic, but honestly the best way to do it is through vaccination and boosting,” Burton said in a Facebook video. “We’ve seen days here in the U.S. of three and a half to four thousand people dying, and those deaths are preventable.”
The pharmaceutical giant believes seasonal vaccines to boost protection for high-risk and immunocompromised communities are necessary to prevent excessive hospitalizations, according to Reuters. Initial two-dose vaccine regimens do offer protection, but booster shots are more effective against COVID overall, as well as different variants.
Other diseases, like the flu, are already in their endemic stage, and people have become accustomed to getting their flu shots every autumn and winter.
Moderna announced on Thursday it was testing a new bivalent boosterthat combined its existing COVID vaccine with an Omicron-specific booster, which the company says will provide more comprehensive protection against coronavirus variants than its predecessor.
As Moderna makes a case for an additional booster shot, the forecast could push up its sales in the second half of 2022, according to Reuters. Moderna and Pfizer have become the vaccine suppliers of choice for most of the developed world.
Despite widespread global stock volatility, Moderna’s stock rose 11.4% in Thursday morning trading, and its 2021 revenue totaled $18.5 billion, according to CNBC. The company reported fourth-quarter 2021 revenues of $7.2 billion on Thursday, and projects that its vaccine sales for 2022 will be at least $19 billion, as opposed to the previous expectation of $17 billion in vaccine sales.