Welcome to firing line, albert bourl thank you very much, margaret. Dr. Bourla, t question on everyones mind is, when will average americans realistically be able to get the covid19 i believe, sometime in the next year maybe the third or the Second Quarter. Inand the reason why im s that we will be able to provide to the American People around 20 million doses or more this year. But this is 10 Million People with two does, and im sure that the alth authorities would like to use them strategically. So, at the beginning, who will get the vaccine will be predetermined by them. As and likely, me, it will be people either with high risk or firstlineorkers. So i believe that we will reach a level around Second Quarter that maybe people can just go and get them in thr pharmacies or at the Physician Office at their will. Do you think, by next summer . I think so. By next summer should be fine. L t about the shot. The vaccine uses mrna technology, which is ahn breahrough togy for vaccinations. Now,an you explain to us in laymens terms exactly whais sing on inside of a perso body when they receive a dose of pfizers shot . When they receive a dose of pfizers shot, they are getting a very large number of smallic lipid nanopas. So, this is very small pieces of lipi and inside each one of these rticles, there is a code that it is an rna code. I remind you that rna code messger rna is the way th cells are replicating information about dna. So, to make a long story short, this messenger rna, it is a code that will tell our cells to produce proteins that they are similar to the proteins that the vaccine has. And that will create an immuneou response frobody as this is happening. The mrna technology is a Breakthrough Technology for vaccines. What does it mean for ture of vaccines . I think, great news. I think that mrna technology is here to stay. I believe that in the future, this technology will be used to produce many more vaccines against viruses, but also i believe it will be used in other medical applications, like, for example, fighting cancer and many others. So, you said a person will need two shots. In what timeframe will they need both of those shots . In our protocol and i think this is quite important only three weeks apart. That might seem like a lot to people who are used to just getting vaccinated once. There are sever vaccines that there are two doses. Not the flu. Re usually, tre one dose of flu, but there are multiple vaccines that require two ors. Three do so i dont think people should have any concern with that. What was the moment, dr. Bourla, that you knew pfizer would devote itself to innovating a covid19 vaccine . Well, the moment was in mah, when i really sat dow th our scientific team, particularly the team that is responsible for the developmenta and design oines, and i asked them which technologies do they think we should be using if we wanted to develop a vaccine. T this is whngs started. Now, it may seem only nine months, but for me it was a very long nine mon and, im sure, for the world that they were living the consequences of this virus. So, when i first heard andis that was on unday at to tell me that we have ad me successful vaccine, and then they told me t level of efficacy. And i was thrilled. Y i had tears ines. Did you he any indication, before that moment, that the sfvaccine would be as succ or as efficacious as they reported to you . No, none. I was hoping, frankly, to successes in the 70 s. And fda was asking a minimum of 50 . To get the minimum of more than 90 aually, much closer to 100 tn to 90 is a very big very big achievement. Nearly 44,000 people participated in the trial. Of those94 contracted covid19. Pfizer has announced that the vaccine is more than 90 effective. So does that mean, dr. Bourla, that at least one of those 94 covid cases was contracted by someone who had received the vaccine . Yes, correct. There we very, very few cases in the vaccinated group, and all the rest were in the placebo. This is how we calculated more an 90 . It is between 90 and 100 . Closer to the 100 . Let me put it this way. How long do you think it will authorization from the fda . I dont want to speak for themselves. Its not appropriate. They are an agency that they have very high scientific expeise, so they are very competent in understanding the nuances of new technologies. They are staffed by people of very high integrity. An im sure and i have seen it that they have very high sense of urgency, given that every day we have 1,400 people, right now, dying. I think they should take their time, but having in mind that people are needing this vaccine. T if it were to go as f possible, when do you think the first First Responders and frontline workers could receive the vaccine . I believe, in december. And thats, right now, our plan. I think, december, they should be able to get vaccinated. So, pfizer was the first to reveal its findings on the u were followed this week by another company, and you tweeted about that company, i am thrilled to hear the good news coming out of modernas covid19 Vaccine Development program. Our Companies Share a common goal defeating the dreaded disease and today weng tulate everyone at moderna and share in the joy of their encouraging results. A number of other companies are also in the final stages oftr ls. So, pfizer has plenty of company, doesnt it . Yes, and we hope that many of em will be successful. We know very well that the demand for these vaccines will be so high that none of us will be able to meet the demand 100 in the next one or t years. So its good if there are options. Effective, the other vaccines, an end to this pandemic sooner, rather than later. So, one of the differences your competitors is thed some of temperature at which it needs to be stored. The Pfizer Vaccine needs to be stored at 94 degrees below zero. How does the belowfreezinge temperatorage requirement impact your distribution . Are there certain places in the world, for example, you wont be able to at least initially reach because of the temperature i do not believe that would be anyplace in the modestly developed world. I think what we need is very basic frastructurelike roads, for example, so a trackva can reach thination center. Our engineers designed a box a container that it has a small size Something Like that. And this container can hold frod 1,000 to 5,000es. And it an isothermic box, so we loait with the vaccine, so loaded with dry ice, and you can send it to wherever you want in the world, withoutru refrigerated ts or without refrigered airplanes. Normal trucks or normal airplanes will carry it. Iv once its re there, people either can put it in super freezers that are available commercially and most of the facilities have. And then they can store it for months. St or they cae it in this container that we send, for weeks, or they can put the doses that they want out of this container in the refrigerator and use it for days. So, just to be clear, youre saying, dr. Bourla, that theren nowherhe world that your vaccines wont reach . As i said, as long as a plane or a truck can go, the vaccine will be there. T is e also theres been reporting that youre also working on a powdered version of year. Vaccine for the following correct. We are working in a version that this powder will not need this supercold logistics and cold chain. What is your sens dr. Bourla, for how long the vaccination will confer im this is a very, very good question, and this is a major unknown for us and for every other vaccine. We are going to monitor the people that receive the vaccines for two years. And we will do that so that we can know when we have a drop in their immune responses. And we dont know before that. It is a reasonable scenario that at a certain pointthe immune response will fade, so then there will be a need for a revaccination. A good news is that with the oomrna technology, you can, you can revaccinate. So, last month, you beganro ing children as young as 12 years old in the trials. And those children wld have now, at least, received a second shot. Whatan you tell us about the vaccines effect on children . You know, its too early,is because s why we are doing the experiments. But i hope that children will have strong immune responses and they will be protected, if anything, better than adults, although its very difficult to have better protection, because its almost approaching perftion the adult Protection Level you have right now. But youhink theres a chance that children could have even better results than the 90 pl that adults have . Its common in vaccinations that the younger the individual, the better the immune response of his body. So, as a result, the better the protection. Thats a common rule, but does not apply always. O so we needke sure that this is happening with data. You released me information about mild side effects of the vaccine. Escially for people who ha concerns about vaccines generally, what can you say to put peoples minds at ease . I think itvery, very safe, from what we have seen so far, and we have seen thousands of people. The tolerability first of all, we have seen no serious adverse effectthing. Anthe tolerabili, it is very good right now. I mean, like 10 , 11 , 12 ofth peoplehat may demonstrate, lets say, fever or headache. Also, older people likely will not have any of that. There will be very, very little with older people. Bo but thom line if someone thinks the benefit that hegetting more than 90 , close to 100 protection and less than 10 or maybe tose to 10 that they will have fever for a day,nk it is, in the middle of a pandemic, i think its a nobrainer. And also, people need to understand that the decision to vaccinate or not yourself affects not only your health which is, at the end of the day, your own call will affect thf health of yoily, of your neighbors, of society. Because if you dontnate, youre becoming the weak link that will help this deadly virus replicate. So theneed to really think it. Tell me, dr. Bourla, for someone who is watching the program and is inclined to be skeptical anyway, when they hear you say that is safe, they are c. E. O. Of the company. Hes the of course hes saying its safe. Mmhmm. What can you say to help even the most skeptical feel confident in the safety of the vaccine . Can tell that pfizer is company with 170 years of legacy. And we would, at any cost, like to at any price, would like to respect this legacy. But even for those that still they are not convinced,we e chosen to be extremely transparent with the development of this vaccine. We published our protocol. This is something at we never do. The protocols are discussions between us and regulators, not for public discussion. We signed pledgethat we committed that no matter what will be the political pressures, or any other type of pressures, we will only submit when we feel bat we have a safe and effective vaccined on the guidance that we have received from europe or fda. We started publishing our safety da before the study is completed. We never do these things. And then, of course, in addition to that, they should hear scntists that they know th information and they are known for telling things the way they are, l. Fauci and other scientists out there that they dont have any interest for any particar company. They have, deep in their heart, the interest of the American People. So, all of tse things, i think, will be helpful to convince even the more skeptic. Your company has a 170plusyear history. This Program Began airing in 1966. Itas hosted by a man named lliam f. Buckley jr. And in 1989, on that program, william f. Buckley jr. Hosted a debate about freemarket competitiveness in the United States. Then a democrat congresswoman, Pat Schroeder argued in favor of government involveme in research and development, and against u. N. Ambassador ane kirkpatrick. I want to show you a clip from that program. Take a look. We noticed that. [ applause ] [ chuckles ] well, but the government. [ chuckles ] dr. Bourla, what is your view of the ideal relationship between a private company and thtfederal government, when comes to partnership on a covid19 vaccine . I have to say i aith the lady that spoke. Th i thincovid19 the success of the t vaccines so far is a great testament to the power of science, but also to the power of theor private send the power of innovation at the hands of theiv e ctor. I think of the speed with which you can move in the private sector, the risks that you can take without having toorry about your spending taxpayers money, and the ways that performance also is very focused in the private sector eate miracles. And despite the fact that i know very well that the pharmaceutical industry were not enjoying a high reputati in the last few years, for reasonsh we can discuss maybe in another show, but i believe that the way that the prmaceutical industry worked and collaborated into the pandemic is a clear demonstrator of the vaable position that this industry has to society. And i believe and i hope that this event will be a catalyst that will help us bring there tation up to the levels that it deserves. Its not going to be enough, just this success. We need toeep doing the right thing, but i think it is a very, very good fit step. Its a great testament to the power of private industry. And i wonder if, dr. Bourla, having worked in universities and othelabs, if you think this vaccine could have beenmp innovated at the hands of thgovernment, without theiv e sector involved. You know, i dont want to speak if it was going to be or not, but i believe that the speed with which, and the quality with which we were abl to move, this is something that very difficult can be achieved outside the private sector. I want to take a look atg somethesident trump said last week about your company, pfizer. Take a look. Pfizer said it wasn part of warp speed, but that turned out to be an unfortunate misrepresentation. They are part. Thats why we gave them the 1. 95 million billion. Anit was an unfortunate mistake that they made when they sa that. Okay, lets set the record straight. Unlike Companies Like moderna and johnson johnson, pfizer took no money for research and development. This is true. The u. S. Government will pay pfizer 1. 95 billion for 100 million doses if your vaccine is approved by the fda. Would you get any of that without success fdaed vaccine . No, we will not. And we havent first all, havent received anything yet. Secondly, we didnreceive the promise to receive anything for the development of our vaccine or for the mufacturing at risk. We are taking all the risko manufacture the dos, but we have a contract that if we are successful, we will sell at a certain price 100 million doses to the u. S. Government. And e contract clearly stipulates that if we fail to get regulaty approvals, the government owes us nothing. And we just have to write off e product. I felt that we would move much faster and much more re if i could protect my scientistr from theucracy. But when you get money, always comes with some strings attached. This is why we didnt get it. How would you characterizele thl of risk you took on, as the c. E. O. Of a publicly traded company, if it hadnt worked . It was high. Very high. It was not going to break the company. M t reckless. It took billions, right off. Its very painl for any corporation, even at our size. But i think it was a very well calculated risk, becse it is a highly risky proposition, but also highlrewarded if you are getting it right. I dont think that pfizer had ever been admired by peoplehe all aroundorld more than the last one week. And only that gives our ard and myself and our employees a tremendous pride that were able to do that. And the fact that we are connecting our name with ala solution to thest, by far the biggest challenge that humanity faced in the last 100 years, its worth absolutely the risk of 2 billion. You wrote a letter to pfizers employees after the first president ial debate. You said. Dr. Urla, why did you need t write that letter . Look, first of all, i was frustrated. Id heard our vaccine, the effort to sa the world, being discussed in political terms, rather thascientific terms. And also i could see the danger of that and the danger of, in terms of Public Health perception, because when you put the vaccine in the heart of the debate, then, based on your political affiliation, you will think that it is good orad, safe or not safe, and you will take it or not. And thiss terrible, as i said, for the credility that is much needed of a vaccine like that. I have 90,000 employees that were shocked to hear pfizers name there. Want us to move faat some people some people want us toove we dont miss any m. We will move at the speed of science. The sed of science moves at a time that the political cynics say is just to suspicious. I mean, the efficacy announcement came on monday, november 9th, two daer joe biden became therojected winner of the election. So, what do you say to those, people w you said, were on the other side of the debate . I told them what i told the other people before. E ifuld bring it in october, we would. This is 1,400 people dying every day. So this is not political, right . Yeah. And i heard the results, 2 00 on a sunday, and the news came out 6 00 monday morning. Discuss this in political terms, but i dont know what else could i have don your personal story, dr. Bourla, is rather remarkable. I mean, you were a youre from greece. You are a trained veterinarian. A you spent 25 rising through the ranks at pfizer, before becoming its chief ecutive officer. And im particularly interested in your perspective, as an immigrant to this country, on how youve observed the United States of america in thi timeisis. Its a great question. First of all, i have great admiration for this country. I became a u. S. Citin. And i like to say, im greek by birth, american by choice. And i remember when i was elected by my board, and they brought me in to inform me that i am going to be the next c. E. O. And they aed me, do you have anything to say . I told them, only in america, because i truly believe that this is the country that when you become american, you are one of tm. This is not easy to acsh in any other country of the world. One can debate the effects of different governments, in terms of controlling t virus, and you can see undisputably in their results, in the outcomes. But people of america, i think they suffer as much as everybody else, and im very happy that now, at least, they can see the end at the end, a lbit of light at the end, too, now, of the tunnel. Inally, dr. Bourla, millions of americans are finalizing their Holiday Plans right now. And as a person who s overseen the production of what we hope ewill be the solution to pandemic, what is your advice for the next few months . Because, as you said, we wont have the vaccine. Yeah. I neuld like to caution ever that they should be very, very, very careful i believe that the good news of the vaccine, that its coming, should not relax the caution that will be the worst that can happen. So a lot of caution, please. This is the final stretch, is what youre saying. It is the final stretch. I would be very careful with my family. Im more optimistic about summet holidat may come. But, right now, please, follow religiously the instructions of the health authorities. And there is Nothing Better than this mask here, right . So, which i published a lot ofem science will win. And we gave them to our emplees right . So that we can remind them that they can wear a mask. Save lives. Dr. Albert bourla, with that, thank you very much for spending your time here with me on firing line. Tnk you very, very much. It was a great honor. Firing line with Margaret Hoover is made possible in part by. Corporate fundg is provided by. Youre watching pbs. 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