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Corona vaccination “is right outside our doors,” said Alexander Herzog, secretary general of the Pharmaceutical Industry Association (Pharmig). Renee Gallo-Daniel, president of the Association of Vaccine Manufacturers (ÖVIH), confirmed yesterday at a press conference that they are “very sure that the vaccines will be available early next year.”
Three candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca, BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna are already in the final phase. BioNTech and Pfizer have already applied for emergency approval for their vaccine in the US A corona vaccination is “clearly predictable in the meantime,” said Pharmig Secretary General Herzog. A first vaccine could be approved in Europe as early as the second half of December, the head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Thursday. The EU has already signed a framework agreement to purchase 300 million doses of the vaccine from BioNtech and Pfizer.
In Austria, planning for a large-scale corona vaccination program has already started. The question was also a topic at yesterday’s conference by Health Minister Rudi Anschober (Greens) and federal state health officials. Vaccinations will be carried out in three phases, the plan is to start from January 2021. At the beginning, residents and staff of nursing homes and nursing homes, as well as health workers will be vaccinated. In the second phase, follow the armed forces and blue light organizations, educators and people over 65. In the third phase, vaccination will be extended to the entire population.
Vaccination as a “ray of hope”
Government circles said that it is assumed that a vaccination of 50 percent of the population is needed to achieve the so-called herd immunity. A target has been set for the Austrian population to be vaccinated in the third quarter of 2021.
Upper Austrian health official, Lieutenant Governor, Lieutenant Governor Christine Haberlander (VP) believes that the first approvals for vaccines may be granted before Christmas. “There is a ray of hope in this pandemic, with all its limitations, which is vaccination. I suppose many people will want to be vaccinated quickly if there is a safe and well-tolerated active ingredient on the market,” says Haberlander. (wb)
