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Ugur Sahin believes that the delivery of the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and Biontech both in the US and Europe will be possible in December, if “everyone works very, very closely and intensely.”
Vaccine developer Biontech co-founder Ugur Sahin believes the delivery of the crown vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer 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 Agence France-Presse (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.
Presentation to the FDA in the coming days
Sahin believes the vaccine may 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 submitted 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”.
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 if we really do a good job, and by ‘we’ I mean everyone involved (governments, various pharmaceutical companies and also vaccine logistics specialists), we could vaccinate between 60 and 70 percent of the population sooner. of 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.”
95 percent effective in a large-scale study
According to the scientist, only “education, information and transparency” can help against vaccine skeptics. You could also imagine that “the discussions will stop very soon or at least will not be in the fore as much” when the first people have been vaccinated and informed of their experiences.
Mainz-based company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer made headlines around the world with the announcement that the clinical trial found their candidate vaccine 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.
“People being happy is part of that”
Biontech was founded in 2008 by Sahin, his wife, Özlem Türeci, and Austrian cancer researcher Christoph Huber. Two years ago, the company signed a collaboration agreement with Pfizer that was expanded to include a search for vaccines in March this year in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Biontech received a grant from the German government worth 375 million euros for the research.
When asked how he dealt with the fact that many media reported on the focus on the immigration background of Sahin and Türeci, the founder of Biontech said: “It is very positive news and many people are happy.” Yes Mainz, the Germans or “fellow Turkish citizens” were happy, all of that was “perfectly fine,” Sahin said. “People being happy is part of that.”
(APA / AFP)
