The founders of the company that developed the first WHO approved COVID-19 vaccine warned that there will be supply gaps until other vaccines are launched.
In an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, BioNTech CEO Uğur Şahin said his company was working with Big Pharma’s partner Pfizer to try to make up for the expected vaccine deficit.
“At the moment, things are not improving, there is a hole because there are no other approved vaccines and we have to fill this gap with our vaccine. That is also the reason why we are now working with Pfizer to see if and how we can produce even more, “said Şahin.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is due to approve a vaccine by the pharmaceutical company Moderna on January 6, while German Health Minister Jens Spahn also asked the EMA to quickly approve a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca that the UK Kingdom approved this week.
There has been consternation in the EU with the slow pace of vaccination of people. On Thursday, French Health Minister Olivier Véran promised to increase vaccination campaign in the country after being criticized for its slow pace.
Şahin admitted that the process in Europe “was not as quick and direct as in other countries”. He blamed the EU’s decision to distribute orders among different manufacturers, hoping that more vaccines would be approved quickly.
“It was assumed that many other companies would come with vaccines. Apparently, the impression prevailed: we will have enough, it will not be so bad and we have everything under control. I was surprised,” said Şahin. While the US bought about 600 million doses of the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine in July, the EU took until November to order half that amount.
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