Moderna's CEO Stéphane Bancel
Moderna's CEO Stéphane Bancel said he has been getting a flu shot every year for 20 years.
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.'

Mr Bancel's comments come amid a sluggish vaccine booster rollout that has seen just one in 20 eligible Americans taking up their Omicron-specific shot.

Despite there being little appetite for the new vaccines, the CDC last week approved Moderna and Pfizer's shot for children as young as five.

Pfizer recently joined forces with Marvel for a PR campaign that appeared to target children.

But Mr Bancel said it was 'very important to think about' whether or not to get Covid boosters.

He said there are around '1.5billion people' globally who would fall into the vulnerable category.

But he emphasized that younger people 'are going to have to decide for themselves what they want to do'.


Roughly 14.8million Americans have now received the updated bivalent booster, out of 215 million eligible people.

Mr Bancel defended the sluggish Covid booster uptake, pointing out that it is stronger than seasonal flu uptake.

He noted that it is the first time people are getting the booster in more of an endemic than pandemic setting, meaning people are less anxious to get a new vaccine.

'You might do it to protect other people or because you don't want to get sick and miss work, or miss vacation.'

But he has been getting the annual flu shot since the age of 30, he said.

'Is it because I was worried of being hospitalized? Of course not. I just didn't want to be sick, I wanted to be able to work.'

Controversy was sparked over the Covid vaccine drive when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extended eligibility to children who are six months old earlier this year.

Many experts cautioned against the move at the time, saying children face a very low risk from the virus and warned it could interfere with other inoculations they need such as against polio or measles.


Comment: Interference with other inoculations was not the primary reason people were concerned about vaccinating children. See:

There is also now a prevailing sense that the Covid pandemic has come to an end, after President Joe Biden declared it was over on television last month.

He has since attempted to walk back from his words, but many are still under the impression that Covid no longer poses a threat.

Vaccine makers made more than $34 billion in profits last year from the Covid jabs alone — equivalent to $1,000 a second, according to estimates.

Pfizer and Moderna's jabs have formed the cornerstone of America's vaccine roll out, with more than 800million doses ordered at a cost of more than $10 billion.

And to cope with the with falling demand, a new report from Airfinity said Moderna and Pfizer are increasing their prices.

The report said: 'Moderna is estimated to be selling vials for between $32 - $50 with the United States potentially paying even more. Moderna indicated that the potential prices in the US market could range from $64 to $100 per dose.'