|
 BioNTech and Pfizer Inc together produced one of the first vaccines
against COVID-19 and Sahin also said that vaccines should continue
to provide protection against severe disease, despite mutations.
"This variant might be able to infect vaccinated people. We
anticipate that infected people who have been vaccinated will still
be protected against severe disease," Sahin said.
The BioNTech chief executive also said that mutations in the virus
meant it was more likely that annual vaccinations would become
likely, as is the case with seasonal flu and that a new vaccine
would be needed against COVID-19, although it was not yet clear when
it would be required.
Much remains unknown about Omicron, which was first detected in
southern Africa last month and has been spotted in at least two
dozen countries, just as parts of Europe were already grappling with
a wave of infections of the Delta variant.
"We expect this variant might
be able to infect vaccinated people and this
variant will most likely be able to infect
people with high exposure. That is one of the
things that is now getting more and more clear.
It is not clear whether this variant produces
more severe disease," Sahin said.
[to top of second column] |
The BioNTech CEO, whose work until the emergence
of the COVID-19 coronavirus in 2020 was focused
on cancer, said that the new variant had emerged
sooner than he had expected, adding that he had
anticipated one some time in 2022.
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(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Josephine Mason;
editing by Keith Weir, Jason Neely and Alexander
Smith)
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