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The German biotechnology company BioNTech criticizes the inability of the European Union to order more doses of its vaccine against the coronavirus (COVID-19), stating that now tries the fastest way with its US partner Pfizer to increase production amid fears of a European “gap” caused by the lack of other approved vaccines.
Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was the first to be approved of the Community at the end of last month, after being approved for the first time by the Britain, Canada and U.S. Then they and other countries approved the vaccine from the US. Modern pharmaceutical company or in Oxford / AstraZeneca, leaving the EU to breathe its dust.
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Faced with mounting criticism of the slow pace of the EU vaccination program, Ugur Shahin, director of the German biotech company, told SPIEGEL that the European acquisition process “certainly it was not as fast and smooth as it did with other countries“.
Shahin, who founded BioNTech with his wife, Yozlem Tureci, who is the company’s chief medical officer, said the situation “is not rosy“because the EU You wrongly assumed that several different vaccines would be ready at once.Therefore, it diversifies its orders.
“The assumption was that many other companies would offer their vaccines,” Shahin said, adding: “The impression seems to be: ‘We will have enough, it won’t be that bad and it’s under our control. That surprised me. “
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Tureci told the German magazine that the EU had assumed there would be a “basket of different suppliers” to choose from. “This approach makes sense. But at one point it became clear that many could not deliver so quickly“” he said, adding: “At that time, it was too late to make up the shortfall.”
The United States ordered 600 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in July, while the EU waited until November to order half. Shahin explained that companies are currently working to increase production and “fill a gap due to the lack of other approved vaccines“.
He noted that BioNTech aims to put a new production facility into operation in the German city of Marburg in February. “long before plannedIt should be able to produce 250 million doses in the first half of 2021.
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Tureci said the company has also signed agreements with five other pharmaceutical companies in Europe to increase production and has been in talks with others. “By the end of January, we must be clear about how much more we can produce.“Shahin said.
The Moderna vaccine is due for approval on January 6 by the European Medicines Agency, which is under increasing pressure to quickly approve the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, which received the green light this week from the UK.
Delays in the production and distribution of the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine have caused a stir in Germany, where attention has focused on immunizing the elderly in nursing homes, and some provinces have had to halt vaccination programs within days to start them.
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