LONDON – If coronavirus vaccinations are rolled out widely, life could return to “normal” by next winter, one of the scientists behind the front-running vaccine told British television yesterday.
Ugur Sahin, the Turkish co-founder of German firm BioNTech, told BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that “this winter will be hard” without any major impact from vaccinations.
Together with US giant Pfizer, BioNTech is developing the leading candidate in the worldwide chase for a vaccine.
“If all goes well, we will start to deliver the vaccine at the end of this year, or beginning of next year,” said Sahin.
“Our goal is to deliver more than 300 million doses by April next year, which could already have an impact.”
The infection rate will then go down in the summer, he predicted, adding that it is essential there is a high take-up of the vaccination by autumn.
“I’m confident that this will happen.”
A number of vaccination companies are working to increase the supply, he said, “so we could have a normal winter next (year)”.
Sahin and his wife, Ozlem Tureci, founded BioNTech in the western German city of Mainz in 2008.
Having identified promising vaccine blueprints, the company formed a partnership in March with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
The announcement last Monday that their Covid-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective in trials led news bulletins around the world, and sent stock markets and hopes soaring.
BioNTech is now worth US$25.8 billion (RM106.4 billion), more than Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank. – AFP, November 16, 2020
