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The scientist behind the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine says that the time between the first and second doses should not be longer than six weeks.
BioNTech CEO Professor Ugur Sahin responded to the UK’s decision to delay the second dose for up to 12 weeks to allow more people to receive a first dose quickly.
When asked if that was wrong, he told Sky News: “As a scientist, I wouldn’t care if the second dose of the vaccine is given for three weeks, four weeks, maybe five weeks, even up to six weeks it might be fine. .
Professor Ugur Sahin is the Executive Director of BioNTech
“But it wouldn’t take any longer. As a scientist, I think it’s not good to spend more than six weeks.”
Professor Sahin acknowledged that governments have difficult decisions to make with limited supplies of the vaccine, but added that the limited protection that a single dose provides must be recognized.
“There is a lot of discussion and there are some pros and cons,” he said.
“The benefits are very clear: by immunizing more people, we could benefit more people.
“But we must also be aware that we will only get a partial benefit for more people.
“So at the end of the day it’s a risk-benefit assessment by government agencies if the benefit of reaching more people is sacrificed by giving less protection to vaccinated people.”
In December, UK Medical Directors endorsed the orientation change that such second doses should be given up to 12 weeks after an initial dose to maximize the number of people vaccinated.
In a statement, they said: “In terms of protecting priority groups, a model in which we can vaccinate twice as many people in the next two or three months is obviously much more preferable in terms of public health than one in which we vaccinate half the number “. but with only slightly more protection. “
At the time, Pfizer had said that there was no data to show that protection after the first dose “is maintained after 21 days.”
Professor Sahin also asked the UK to provide evidence to support his strategy, adding: “At the end of the day, they need clinical data, that’s what counts … If scientific data and arguments are presented, people can be convinced . “
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His words come after warnings from Scotland this week that the vaccine program may have to slow down due to “temporary production” problems at Pfizer’s manufacturing.
Professor Sahin said operations were scaled down earlier this year in order to increase production and he still anticipates reaching the planned two billion doses this year.
More than 13.5 million people in the UK have received the first dose of one of the COVID-19 vaccines, but only 524,000 have received both doses.
Professor Sahin said “some kind of normalcy” should be reached by the summer, although the virus will still be with us.
He predicted that if people keep getting vaccinated, the death rate may be lower than that of the flu and global lockdowns could be avoided.
