Vaccine Creator Says Life Could Be Normal by Next Winter
Partnering pharmaceutical makers, America’s Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, released a statement saying they believe, while this winter will be difficult, by next year at this time vaccines should be widely available with the hope that life may return to a pre-pandemic normal winter season.
BioNTech CEO, Ugur Sahin, said during an interview with the BBC, the joint vaccine makers are confident their vaccine will considerably lessen the pandemic by next winter. Sahin emphasized, in order to achieve the projected goal, it will be essential to implement vaccinations by next fall.
Last week, the partner companies released their findings of a 90% success rate for their vaccination test trials. They are currently seeking, and hoping for, emergency approval from the FDA. Once approved, it will still take months to mass produce enough doses to vaccinate large populations, which is anticipated to become available by April of 2021, with a goal of delivering over 300 million doses. They are projecting an initial distribution of around 50 million doses by late this year into early next year, which would immunize 25 million people with a 2-dose regimen.
On Monday, another big pharma company, Moderna, announced their preliminary data has shown a 94.5% success rate in vaccination trials which resulted in preventing infections, including severe COVID-19 cases, which gives the United States the potential for two safe and effective vaccines becoming available for widespread distribution. While initial dose availability will be limited, the vaccine maker projects that by mid-2021 there will be enough available to vaccinate widespread populations.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who directs the nation’s allergy and immune disease institute, said he was one of a select group of health experts who were briefed on the results on Sunday. Dr. Fauci stated this is “extremely good news,” and he is satisfied and very optimistic about the forthcoming potential of getting the coronavirus under control through safe and effective vaccines.
Ann Sullivan is a contributing staff writer covering national and world news topics. She brings dedicated experience having written international and domestic news, blogs, and web content for over 20 years. She’s also a published poet and graphic designer with degrees in Business and Graphic Communications and has been a music distributor, music industry sponsorship sales director and band manager.