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’.
“I would like to let you know that I have tested positive for #COVID19,” Bourla wrote. “I am thankful to have received four doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and I am feeling well while experiencing very mild symptoms. I am isolating and have started a course of Paxlovid.”
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.
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 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.
