- It should be treated more like flu, with only the vulnerable needing the shots
- He said it was ‘very important to think about’ whether or not to get a booster
- And it will be up to young people to ‘decide for themselves what they want to do’
Not everyone needs to get an annual Covid booster, according to the head of pharma giant Moderna who also likened the virus to seasonal flu.
Stéphane Bancel said his company’s shots should mainly be targeted at over-50s and people with underlying health conditions.
His comments seem to be at odds with the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) which is urging everyone over the age of five to get boosted.
Covid is now predominantly only killing the most vulnerable because the US has built up strong immunity through high infection rates and repeated vaccine rollouts.
There are currently around 300 deaths from the virus across the country every day, compared to more than 1,000 this time last year.
Mr Bancel told a finance conference on Monday: ‘I think it’s going to be like the flu. If you’re a 25-year-old, do you need an annual booster every year if you’re healthy?
‘You might want to… but I think it’s going to be similar to flu where it’s going to be people at high-risk, people above 50 years of age, people with comorbidities, people with cancer and other conditions, people with transplants.’