Three years and billions of Covid vaccinations into the pandemic, Pfizer and Moderna say their work is far from over.
The two pharmaceutical companies, whose Covid vaccines have become household names, are ushering in a new era for their shots that will elevate the role they play in protecting public health, but also simplify what people need to do to coexist with the virus.
That involves developing new versions of the vaccines that aim to provide broader and longer-lasting immunity against the virus, and combination jabs that protect against Covid and other respiratory diseases in a single dose, among other efforts.
Those plans coincide with a broader shift in the Covid pandemic landscape.
The U.S. and global-level public health emergencies are over, vaccine uptake and sales growth have slowed, and both Pfizer and Moderna will sell their shots directly to health-care providers at around $110 to $130 per dose as soon as the fall, when the federal stockpile of free vaccines is expected to run out.
Neither company provided CNBC with an update on the exact private market price of their shots.
Many of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s plans for their vaccines may not reach the public for a few more years, and the success of those efforts isn’t guaranteed.
“One of the greatest things about Moderna is the company’s willingness to lean in, even if it’s not obvious where exactly things will go,” Dr. Jacqueline Miller, Moderna’s therapeutic area head of infectious diseases, told CNBC.