Fresh controversies are emerging over the use of the Pfizer vaccine for tackling COVID-19, creating panic over the efficacy of the vaccine. The producer of the vaccine, BioNTech, a German company, is already panicking over fear of losing already produced vaccines which were accounted to be in billions of doses. Invariably, the company is arguing that the continuous use of the Pfizer vaccine is not because of its effectiveness but for the fear of encountering loss from unsold doses.
The Chief Executive of the German company, BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, on Monday argued that the first-generation vaccine developed by BioNTech-Pfizer can still effectively used to treat speculated coronavirus variants – Delta strain –adding that there is no need for the vaccine to be modified at the moment.
Ugur Sahin on Monday stated that “It is quite possible that in the next six to 12 months, further variants will emerge and that would require adaptation of the vaccine, but it is at the moment not yet the case.”
He noted that a decision to switch vaccines should be made only if it is clear that the vaccine failed to work or is only offering sub-par protection against the virus. The BioNTech boss was even uncertain about the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine which the producing company hid certain secrets on its side effects. The secret was leaked in a document recently.
According to the Chief Executive of the German company, BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, “making a decision at the moment might turn out to be wrong in three or six months if another variant is dominating. Therefore, the timing of the decision must be appropriate.
“At the moment, we have a good understanding that the booster vaccine with the parental strain is completely sufficient.”
The business of BioNTech-Pfizer has boomed over the months as the company has distributed 1 billion doses of vaccines to over 100 countries across the world.
The company projects the annual manufacturing capacity to hit 3 billion doses at the end of 2021, targeting 4 billion doses in 2022.