[ad_1]
According to media reports, the EU Commission has negotiated a contract for the vaccine with pharmaceutical companies Biontech and Pfizer. Health Minister Spahn expects Germany to receive up to 100 million doses.
According to media reports, the EU Commission has already negotiated a contract for the delivery of the promising vaccine from pharmaceutical companies Biontech and Pfizer. “Negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry have been concluded,” confirmed the committee of the German Press Agency in Brussels. “The contract is dry.” The newspaper “Bild” reported on it first.
The EU Commission has been negotiating with Biontech and Pfizer for months. After preliminary talks, the authority had already announced in September that it wanted to buy up to 300 million doses of vaccines from the manufacturer. The companies announced Monday that their vaccine offered more than 90 percent protection against Covid-19.
Up to 100 million cans for Germany?
According to federal government plans, up to 100 million doses of the serum should be available in Germany. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn announced that he had entered the talks in the EU.
It expects a quick conclusion of the EU Commission’s contract with Biontech and its partner Pfizer, Spahn said. “Rest assured that we will come to a conclusion now.”
No approval yet
However, the vaccine has not yet been approved by the authorities. Biontech and Pfizer had announced that they wanted to apply for expedited approval in the US next week. Spahn said the approval procedures in the US and the EU are different.
But there are also acceleration opportunities in Europe. At the same time, guidelines on possible side effects of vaccines will not be lowered, the minister stressed. According to Spahn, there are already completed EU contracts with pharmaceutical companies Astra Zeneca and Sanofi, which are also working on corona vaccines. A contract with Johnson & Johnson has already been “basically” entered into.
90 percent effective
The announcement by the Mainz company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer was commented on Monday with “great” and “great success”. The vaccine they have developed prevents more than 90 percent of cases from contracting the Covid-19 disease caused by the coronavirus, the pharmaceutical companies had announced. This was found in the ongoing clinical trial.
Produce large quantities as quickly as possible
Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek relies on large-scale production. “It will be important to produce the vaccine as quickly as possible and in large quantities,” said Karliczek of the dpa news agency. The news from Biontech and Pfizer are cause for optimism. According to their own information, the two drug companies expect up to 50 million doses of vaccines to be available this year. They estimate up to 1.3 billion cans next year.
Despite all the joy, there are still worries.
Some medical professionals and researchers reacted more cautiously to the vaccine news. The tenor: We don’t know enough about serum yet and the pandemic won’t go away overnight.
Virologist Isabella Eckerle said in the ARD broadcast tough but fair: “The vaccine will help us get out of the pandemic.” However, there will be a long transitional phase in which the protective measures against the corona must be maintained. “You should not imagine that the vaccine will arrive and that from tomorrow we can go back to our old life,” Eckerle said.
It is not yet known if those vaccinated could remain infected with the virus or if it could be contagious to others, SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach told the show. According to Lauterbach, it will take at least a year until the whole of Germany is vaccinated up to “herd immunity”. Only then can one speak of dispensing with the mask and distance.
“You have to show how long the protection of vaccination lasts”
The president of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, told the “Passauer Neue Presse” that the news from Biontech was “certainly a great success and an important step, but not yet a great advance”. The study was not evaluated to the end.
There is still very little to say about the side effects, said Berlin Charité virologist Leif-Erik Sander to consider. The observation period is still too short. It is also unclear whether the vaccine works equally well in different groups, especially risk groups like the elderly, Sander said. There was also no information on how much the vaccine protected against severe courses of Covid-19. “In addition, you have to show how long the protection of vaccination lasts.”
