Pfizer, Moderna to join key White House “summit” on next-gen COVID shots – Stat
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Companies including leading vaccine developers, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Moderna (MRNA), will be part of a groundbreaking âsummitâ that the White House has convened for Tuesday as part of a broad initiative to develop the next generation of COVID-19 immunizations, Stat News reported.
During the event, key federal officials and leading scientists will join pharmaceutical executives to discuss new technologies and formulate a road map for their development.
The event highlights the strongest sign of resolve yet to develop a new generation of COVID-19 shots to address the future variants and significantly cut the rates of infection or transmission. The initiative, long advocated by experts, has struggled to get off the ground due to the lack of funding.
âThese are vaccines that are going to be far more durable, that are going to provide far longer-lasting protection, no matter what the virus does or how it evolves,â White House Covid-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said in an interview.
âIf we can drive down infections by 90% â¦ COVID really begins to fade into the background, and becomes just one more respiratory illness that we have to deal with.â
While Jha noted that such an initiative would likely need more funding from Congress, he refused to give a specific estimate.
Scientists have long coveted a universal coronavirus vaccine. The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research developed a pan-coronavirus vaccine against all COVID variants, including Omicron, Defense One reported in 2021.