December vaccine rollout possible, BioNTech CEO tells AFP

BREAKTHROUGH Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE estimate they can roll out up to 50 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine this year, enough to protect 25 million people, and then produce up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021. —REUTERS

Frankfurt, Germany — BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin on Thursday said the frontrunner COVID-19 vaccine his German firm is developing with Pfizer could be rolled out before the year is over in the United States or Europe.

“We are working at full speed,” he told AFP in a Zoom interview, confirming that the companies plan to apply for emergency use authorization of their jab in the US on Friday, while European regulators will receive another batch of data “next week.”

“There is a chance that we can receive approval from the US or Europe or both regions this year still,” said Sahin. “We may even start delivering the vaccine in December,” he added, “if everyone works together very closely.”

JPV

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