[ad_1]
Vaccine developer Biontech co-founder Ugur Sahin believes delivery of the corona vaccine is possible this year. It is “in the realm of the possibility that we can deliver the vaccine in December,” Sahin said in an interview with the AFP news agency on Thursday. “But everyone really has to work very, very closely and intensely.” The vaccine developed by Biontech and the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is one of the hopes in the fight against the pandemic.
Sahin thinks the vaccine could be approved in the United States or Europe “or both regions” later this year. His team is working “feverishly” on approval, the Mainz native explained. “The documents will be finalized today and tomorrow and will be sent to the FDA.” The “updated data with efficacy data” will probably be sent to the European authorities next week. The approval could take place “in a few weeks”.
Immunization of 70 percent of the population by fall 2021
According to the founder of Biontech, if approved, up to 70 percent of the population could be vaccinated before the fall of next year. “I think that if we really do a good job, and by ‘us’ I mean everyone involved (governments, various pharmaceutical companies and also vaccine logistics), we could vaccinate between 60 and 70 percent of the population before the fall. of 2021. he told AFP “And if we can do that, then we can have a normal winter without having to close again.”
According to the scientist, only “education, information and transparency” can help against vaccine skeptics. You can also imagine that “the discussions will stop pretty soon or at least won’t be as much to the fore” when the first few people have been vaccinated and informed about their experiences.
Mainz-based Biontech and its US partner Pfizer made headlines around the world with the announcement that the clinical trial found their vaccine candidate to be more than 90 percent effective. After completing the analyzes from the last large clinical study, it was confirmed 95 percent effective according to the company.
“Champagne is not our thing”
In an interview with AFP, Sahin reported on the time when data on the effectiveness of the candidate vaccine became available. “Champagne is not our thing. We sit down and then have tea,” he said. Subsequently, the team “used the time to reflect on what has happened so far and what comes next.”
Biontech was founded in 2008 by Sahin, his wife Zlem Treci, and Austrian cancer researcher Christoph Huber. Two years ago, the company signed a collaboration agreement with Pfizer, which was expanded to include a search for vaccines in March this year in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Biontech received a grant from the federal government amounting to 375 million euros for the research.
When asked how he dealt with the fact that many media reported on the focus on Sahin and Treci’s immigration backgrounds, the Biontech founder said: “This is very positive news and a lot of people are happy.” Yes Mainz, the Germans or “Turkish citizens” were happy, all that was “perfectly fine,” Sahin said. “That people are happy too is part of that.”
