Pfizer boss tests positive for Covid for second time in a MONTH – amid drug giant’s booster rollout

Pfizer boss Dr Albert Bourla has tested positive for Covid for the second time in a month. 

The 60-year-old — who has been vaccinated four times with his company’s shot — last had the virus in mid-August.

He revealed on Twitter Saturday he had tested positive again but was ‘feeling well and symptom-free’.

Dr Bourla said he had not yet had Pfizer’s new bivalent vaccine which is designed to give higher protection against Omicron variants.

He used his back-to-back positive tests to warn people not to be complacent, adding: ‘While we’ve made great progress, the virus is still with us.’

It is unusual for someone to catch Covid twice in such a short time period. Natural infection is thought to provide strong protection for several months.

A faulty test or leftover virus from the previous infection are normally the reasons people test positive in quick succession.

However, a small number of people do suffer genuine reinfections within short time periods. Those with weakened immune systems are thought to be at higher risk.

Bourla tweeted to his 55.3K followers to let them know of his positive test and warn them not to be complacent

Dr Bourla said he had not got his fifth vaccine because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people should wait three months after an infection.

During his illness last month, he was given a course of Pfizer’s oral Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid, which is used to treat high-risk people such as older patients.

In his tweet on Saturday, Dr Bourla said: ‘I have tested positive for Covid. I’m feeling well & symptom free. 

‘I’ve not had the new bivalent booster yet, as I was following CDC guidelines to wait three months since my previous Covid case which was back in mid-August. 

‘While we’ve made great progress, the virus is still with us.’

The comments appear to be in reaction to President Joe Biden’s assertion last week that the Covid pandemic is ‘over’.

Biden’s remarks took officials even in his own administration by surprise and led to questions about why the government continues to enforce federal mandates and seek more funding to fight the disease.

Around 53,000 Americans are still testing positive for Covid every day and the virus is killing about 350 people daily, latest CDC data shows.

All over-12s are being offered Pfizer or Moderna’s updated booster shots that target the dominant BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which were approved by the FDA last month.

Around 25 million doses of the so-called bivalent shots have been sent out to state health authorities.

But just 4.4million Americans have received the updated shot, according to the latest CDC data.

This number represents just 1.5 per cent of people currently eligible to receive the booster in the US.

The White House said more than 5 million people received the new boosters by its own estimate that accounts for reporting lags in states.

A temporary shortage of Moderna vaccine caused some pharmacies to cancel appointments while encouraging people to reschedule for a Pfizer vaccine. 

Overall, around 109million Americans have received at least one booster dose.

That represents just 35 per cent of the total US population over the age of five and less than half of those who were double-vaccinated.

The new bivalent Covid booster is a half and half vaccine, made from the genetic material of the original Wuhan Covid strain and Omicron.

This differs from the last generation of jabs that were based solely on the first Covid strain and are less effective against newer variants.