Ugur Sahin, CEO of Bioentech.
Andres Arnold | Picture attachment | Getty Images
LONDON – Daily life could return to normal next winter, according to one of the makers of a potential coronavirus vaccine expected by Pfizer and Bioentech.
Ugur Sahin, co-founder and chief executive professor of Bioentech, also suggested that the vaccine could halve the transmission of the virus, resulting in a “dramatic reduction” in the number of reported cases.
Last week, Pfizer and Bioentech said a preliminary analysis of their vaccine candidate showed that it was more than 90% effective in preventing covid-19 infections in people without evidence of previous infection.
About 43,500 people participated in the tests.
The effectiveness of the vaccine was significantly higher than scientists expected, which led Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Borla to announce the development: “An excellent day for science and humanity.”
Huge challenges remain before the vaccine is brought in, but the news raised expectations that it would be delivered even before the end of the year.
It is hoped that a single vaccine could help end the coronavirus epidemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 1.31 million people worldwide.
“This winter will be tough. So, we won’t have a big impact on the numbers of infections with our vaccine this winter,” Bioentech’s Sahin told the BBC’s Andrew Marne on Sunday.
“If all goes well, we will start the end of vaccination next year this year. Our goal is to deliver more than 30,000 million doses by April next year that could allow us to start already. To make an impact.”
Sahin said it was “absolutely necessary” to complete vaccinations before the next fall.
“I am confident that this will happen because a number of vaccine companies are helping us increase supply and so that next year will be a normal winter.”
White House Coronavirus Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said last week that even when a vaccine seemed to be on the horizon, it was not enough to eradicate the disease.
“I doubt we’ll get rid of this. I think we need to plan that this is something we may need to maintain control over time. It could be something we just have to be careful about.” Webinar hosted by Think Tank Chatham House.
“Certainly, it won’t be an epidemic for long, because I believe vaccines will turn it around.”
On October 27, a health care worker at Ibni Sina Hospital at Ankara University in Ankara, Turkey The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic developed by Pfizer and the German biontech company, is a phase 3 vaccine trial injection syringe. 2020.
Dogukan Kaskinkilik | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The comments were made in Europe and the US. In the midst of a coronavirus infection upheaval that shows no sign of slowing down.
Some European countries have implemented national lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus, while the U.S. Many states in India have also recently stepped in to impose stricter public health measures as the infection grows.
According to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University, U.S. There are now more than 11 million cases of coronavirus reported in India, with 246,217 related deaths.
The United States, the country with the highest number of Covid-19 cases worldwide, was diagnosed with the first coronavirus infection in Washington state on January 20. Nov. On the 9th it surpassed 10 million cases and in just 7 days the figure reached 11 million.
How long will immunity last?
When asked if the vaccine is as effective in the elderly as it is in the young, the biotech official said the German biotech pay firm will have a clearer understanding of this in the next three weeks.
It is not yet known how long the immunity will last after the second dose of the vaccine dose is given, he said.
Booster immunizations “shouldn’t be too complicated,” Sahin said, if they have a significant reduction in immunity after one year.
Some of the side effects of the Pfizer-Bioentech vaccine still include mild to moderate pain at the injection site for a few days, Sahin said, while some participants had mild to moderate fever over the same period of time. .
“As a scientist and for the extraction of what we have seen so far for other viruses, I would expect that the efficacy in preventing the disease translates into at least some efficacy in preventing infection,” Sahin told the BBC on Sunday.
“Therefore, I am very confident that such an effective vaccine can reduce transmission between people – maybe not 90% but 50%. But we must not forget that it can also dramatically reduce the spread of epidemics.”
The Pfizer-Bioentech vaccine is one of the final stages of testing, as drug manufacturers and research centers around the world are deployed to deliver safe and effective vaccines.
Other US-backed front-runners include Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine candidates.
.
