Founders of the company that developed the first COVID-19 vaccine developed by the WHO have warned that there will be gaps until other vaccines are rolled out.
BioNTech CEO Uğur Şahin said in an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel that his company, along with its Big Pharma partner Pfizer, is trying to catch up with the expected vaccine shortage.
“At the moment things do not look rosy, there is a hole because there are no other approved vaccines and we have to fill this gap with our vaccine. That is also why we are working closely with Pfizer on the question of whether and how we can produce even more, ‘Şahin said.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to approve a vaccine by the pharmaceutical company Moderna on January 6, while German Health Minister Jens Spahn also urged the EMA to quickly approve a vaccine developed by the European Medicines Agency. University of Oxford and AstraZeneca developed what the UK cleared this week.
There is consternation in the EU about the slow pace of getting people vaccinated. On Thursday, French Heath Minister Olivier Véran promise to rush the country’s vaccination process after being criticized for the slow pace.
Şahin acknowledged that the process in Europe “was not as fast and straightforward as in other countries.” He blamed the EU’s decision to distribute orders across different manufacturers in the expectation that more vaccines would be approved soon.
“There was the assumption that many other companies would come up with vaccines. Apparently the impression prevailed: we will get enough, it will not be that bad, and we have it under control. I was surprised,” Şahin said. While the US bought about 600 million doses of BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine in July, the EU took until November to order half the amount.
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