BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany awarded three grants to biotech companies to help accelerate the development of candidates for the coronavirus vaccine, but Research Minister Anja Karliczek said it was unlikely that any vaccine would be widely available before middle of next year.
Europe’s largest economy has reported an increase in infections in recent days, with the director of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases blaming negligence and saying it was unclear if a second wave was underway. .
“We should not expect a miracle,” Karliczek said at a press conference, calling on people to maintain social distancing and wearing masks to avoid jeopardizing what Germany had accomplished in recent weeks in terms of controlling the pandemic. .
“We must continue to assume that vaccines for the general population will only be available in the middle of next year at least.”
Government advisers recommended giving prizes from a € 750 million ($ 882.23 million) pot for vaccine development that the government announced last month to German biotech companies BioNtech.
“All three are promising candidates, but of course we should always expect setbacks during the trial phase because it is one thing to have an effective vaccine, but it is another to have a safe vaccine that people want,” Karliczek said.
The money is designed to help companies increase production and clinical testing of their offerings.
More than 150 candidate vaccines are in various stages of development, with 23 prospects in human trials worldwide.
With 206,000 confirmed cases and slightly more than 9,000 deaths, Germany wants to avoid a second wave, which would bring blockages after economically crippling restrictions that closed many companies for six weeks in March and April.
(Report by Reuters Television; Writing by Michelle Martin, Thomas Escritt edition)
