The CEO of BioNTech BNTX,
he said the German company still does not know if the vaccine it has developed in conjunction with Pfizer will work against the new strain of the coronavirus.
Uğur Şahin said it would take two weeks to complete the lab work needed to demonstrate whether the shot, which has been developed with US partner Pfizer PFE,
it is effective against the new strain.
“At the moment we don’t know if our vaccine can also provide protection against this new variant,” Şahin told a news conference Tuesday to provide an update on the vaccine. “Scientifically, it is very likely that the immune response of this vaccine may also deal with new virus variants.”
Vaccine adjustments could be made within six weeks, although this could require regulatory approval, Şahin added.
More than 40 countries have banned arrivals in the UK amid growing concerns over the spread of the new strain of COVID-19, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said is behind a rebound in cases in London and southeast of England.
Read: Should you be concerned about the new COVID-19 strain? This is what you need to know
In an assessment of the threats to the new strain, published on December 20, the European Center for Disease Control said: “There is no indication at this time of a greater severity of the infection associated with the new variant.” but preliminary analysis in the UK suggests that this variant is up to 70% more transmissible than existing variants.
Şahin noted that the new strain had nine mutations instead of one, as is more common. But he added that BioNTech had “scientific confidence” that the vaccine would be effective, because the proteins in the new UK variant were 99% the same as those in the predominant strains.
His comments came a day after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Commission approved the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, paving the way for mass inoculations to take place in the 27 member states of the bloc.
Delivery of the shot is expected to begin on Saturday, with countries such as Germany, Austria and Italy saying they plan to start vaccinations from Sunday. The EU has ordered 200 million doses of the vaccine, with the option to buy 100 million more.