Daily life may return to normal by next winter, according to one of the creators of the highly anticipated prospective coronavirus vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech.
Professor Ugur Sahin, co-founder, and chief executive of BioNTech, also suggested the vaccine could halve transmission of the virus, resulting in a “dramatic reduction” in the number of reported cases.
Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech said an initial analysis of their vaccine candidate showed it was more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 infections among those without prior disease evidence.
Approximately 43,500 people took part in the tests.
The vaccine efficacy was significantly higher than scientists had been expecting, prompting Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla to declare the development: “A great day for science and humanity.”
Huge challenges remain before a vaccine can be rolled out, but the news raised expectations that one could be delivered perhaps even before the end of the year.
It is hoped a vaccine could help bring an end to the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 1.31 million lives worldwide.
“This winter will be hard. So, we will not have a big impact on the infection numbers with our vaccine this winter,” BioNTech’s Sahin told the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show” on Sunday.
“If everything continues to go well, we will start to deliver the vaccine end of this year, beginning (of) next year. Our goal is to deliver more than 300 million vaccine doses until April next year, which could allow us to start already to make an impact.”
Sahin said it was “absolutely essential” to complete immunizations before next fall.
“I’m confident that this will happen because several vaccine companies are helping us to increase the supply and so that we could have a normal winter next year.”
White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said last week that while a vaccine appeared to be on the horizon, it may not be enough to eradicate the disease.