Pfizer President and CEO Albert Bourla said that the company’s antiviral pill is a treatment for Covid-19, not prevention and that people still need to be vaccinated.
“This is a treatment, it’s not something that we use for prevention at this stage,” Bourla said, when asked on CBS Mornings on Tuesday how the pill could become a game. play to deal with Covid-19.
“People who are sick, unfortunately some of them are hospitalized or die. With this pill, we now have evidence that instead of 10 of them having to go to the hospital, only one will go and honestly, no one died in this study,” he said.
The mortality rate that needs to be prevented is very high, he said.
“It was a game changer,” he said.
Asked if news about the treatment would encourage unvaccinated people to think they don’t need the shot, Bourla said, “what you’ve said is going to be a risk and that’s going to be a risk,” Bourla said. very big mistake. . Vaccines are needed, everyone needs prevention. They shouldn’t think that they can’t get very sick because there is a medicine that can treat them. Everyone should avoid it.”
People need to get vaccinated to protect themselves and loved ones, he said.
“But, unfortunately, there will be cases of Covid,” he said. “And now, here’s the big news, when we have a Covid surge, often what’s happening is our hospitals are overwhelmed, people in the ICUs, hospitals need to change their normal processes, sometimes they postpone elective surgeries. That’s a huge problem for the healthcare system. Right now, with this pill, instead of 10 people going there, only one, nine people will stay at home and hope no one dies. This is a huge deal.”
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