Pfizer CEO's Omicron update alarms experts; says infection mild but may spread to millions

Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus appears to be milder than previous strains, for instance, Delta, but also seems to have more transmissibility and it may spread faster, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Tuesday said. Omicron could lead to more new mutations in the future, he warned. “I don’t think it’s good news to have something that spreads fast,” Bourla told The Wall Street Journal during an interview at the paper’s CEO Council Summit. “Spreads fast means it will be in billions of people and another mutation may come. You don’t want that.” The latter stressed that more research is needed to understand the full implications of this highly mutated strain of SARS-CoV-2. 

Anecdotal reports from South Africa and preliminary investigation by the World Health Organization (WHO) meanwhile suggest that omicron cases are milder. South African scientists and virologists in the United States, although, were quick to point out that these are the early cases of the new variant that have appeared in relatively younger people, the population generally less likely to develop severe illness from any strain of the COVID-19. 

Because it is one of the most severely mutated virus strains yet, there are still considerable uncertainties, WHO noted, as health experts speculate Omicron’s impact on vulnerable high-risk groups. The Omicron strain has a “high number of mutations, including 26-32 in the spike, some of which are concerning and may be associated with immune escape potential and higher transmissibility,” the WHO warned. 

Pfizer CEO expects Omicron cases to surge from 'dozens to millions'

Pfizer CEO Burla warned that it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions from the wave of infection in South Africa right now due to initial phases, as witnessed in other variants. On a shocking note, Pfizer CEO told the forum that he expects confirmed Omicron cases to surge from simply “dozens to millions” in a matter of the next few weeks. 

“We will have a good understanding let’s say before the year-end as to what exactly it means for clinical manifestation,” Pfizer CEO Bourla told CEO Council Summit, adding that Pfizer has scrambled to develop a vaccine that targets omicron by March 2022. Although, he stated that there is still less clarity about the jab's response to Omicron and it’s not clear whether there’s a need for a shot. It will take a few weeks to determine, said Burla, indicating that more information can be unveiled as the variant becomes more widespread. 

Most of Omicron’s virus’s mutations are concentrated on the spike protein, a mechanism virus uses to attach itself to human cells. The vaccines and antibody treatments, he said, target the spike protein. When mutations occur on that part of the virus and change genetic makeup, the vaccine might fail to identify it. This is where Pfizer’s oral antiviral medication Paxlovid might prove to be effective, he said, as it inhibits an enzyme the coronavirus needs to replicate, known as a protease. It becomes harder for the novel coronavirus to mutate without the protease enzyme which the Pfizer pill Paxlovid targets, explains Burla. 

“It’s very difficult for the virus to create a strain that can live without this protease,” Bourla said. “It’s not impossible. It’s very difficult.” He then said that society will never reach 100% vaccination. “That’s why treatments unfortunately will be needed. But we can live normal lives,” he iterated. 

Another researcher in the US, Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at UCSF, tweeted on Tuesday that even as it is speculated that Omicron variant will be less severe than the delta strain of the coronavirus — as preliminary data may indicate — it is far more contagious. “If Omicron is somewhat less severe but far more transmissible, that’ll still be nasty," he tweeted.