Deutsche Welle (English edition)
BioNTech admits it will struggle to fill COVID vaccine 'gap'
The co-founder of the German vaccine developer has spoken of the battle to ramp up production of its coronavirus jab. His comments come amid growing criticism of Europe's vaccine rollout.
Ugur Sahin, co-founder of the German vaccine developer BioNTech, is hoping to be able to boost production of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine by February, according to an interview with the DerSpiegel news magazine published on Friday.
The BioNTech executive also said he had been surprised by the European Union's reticence towards purchasing enough supplies of the vaccine and warned that the current vaccine availability was not looking "rosy."
"We are lacking other approved vaccines and we have to fill this gap with our vaccine," the Mainz-based company founder said.
Sahin said he was hopeful that, towards the end of January, the vaccine developer would have "clarity as to whether we can produce more and how much."
This included the plan to have a new manufacturing facility in the city of Marburg up and running in February — "far earlier than planned" — which could produce a further 250 million doses in the first six months of 2021.
BioNTech-Pfizer faces limited production capacity
With its American partners at Pfizer, BioNTech is attempting to scale up production to meet the huge demand for a global immunization program.
While several other vaccines have been given the rubber stamp in different countries, the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine was the first to gain approval in Europe and North America.
However, production faces extra challenges due to the complex technology behind it.
Sahin highlighted two main problems hampering increased production of the vaccine.
He explained to Der Spiegelthat there is a lack of available facilities that can quickly be turned over to vaccine production.
"We are trying to find new cooperation partners to produce for us. But it's not as if there were specialized unused factories lying around across the world that could produce vaccines of the required quality from one day to the next."
The second major problem for producing the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine is that the high complexity of the mRNA technology does not lend itself well to easy productive adaptability.
"You can't just switch over,
Delayed EU approval hampers vaccine roll-out
Despite receiving emergency approval in the US and UK several weeks ago, the BioNTechPfizer vaccine only received EU regulatory approval just days before Christmas.
EU countries have launched large- scale vaccination programs, but there are now concerns about whether there will be sufficient doses and whether demand can be met. Fellow co- founder, and Sahin's wife, Özlem Türeci, told the magazine that Brussels had assumed there would be a "basket of suppliers to choose from" due to the array of different vaccines in development.
This meant the EU ended up placing a relatively low order of just 300 million doses with BioNTech-Pfizer, and not until November. The US, on the other hand, ordered 600 million doses in July.
Both Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder and leader of the business-friendly FDP party Christian Lindner have called for vaccine production to be massively stepped up.
However, Sahin pointed out in his interview that part of the problem lay with the European Commission's previous assumptions about vaccine availability. While the EU had pre-emptively ordered vaccines from BioNTech, they had also put in orders with other producers, yet these other vaccines have still not been approved.
"There was the assumption that many more companies would come with vaccines. Apparently, there was the impression that we [the EU] will get enough, it won't be that bad and we [Brussels] have it under control. This surprised me," Sahin said.
cases linked to students and other service businesses," said Pongsakorn Kwanmuang, the spokesman for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
The country confirmed 279 new cases on Friday, with the majority of them linked to a cluster among migrant workers in a province south of Bangkok, and another cluster linked to illegal gambling dens that started in the eastern province of Rayong.
Europe
Britain is gearing up to reopen its Nightingale field hospitals in response to a spike in cases of the new strain of coronavirus.
The country's Defense Secretary, Ben Wallace, told Times Radio that the military, which helped build them, "stands ready" to help staff the hospitals if the National Health Service falls short of critical care beds.
Seven Nightingale hospitals were built across England during the first wave of COVID-19.
A spokesperson for the NHS said the temporary facilities across England "are being readied to admit patients once again should they be needed," news agency AFP reported.
He added that "in anticipation of pressures rising from the spread of the new variant infection," NHS has been asked to ensure the Nightingale hospital in London was "ready to admit patients as needed" and that reactivation was underway.
As per the latest government data, a total of 944,539 people in the UK had received a first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine as of Sunday.
The Oxford University and AstraZeneca vaccine, the second approved shot for public use in the country, is also set to be administered from next week.
Germany has recorded another 553 deaths, taking the overall death toll to 33,624.
Meanwhile, the founders of Germany's BioNTech said Sunday they are working flat out with partner Pfizer to boost production of their COVID-19 vaccine.
The biotech startup has led the vaccine race but its shot has been slow to arrive in the European Union due to relatively slow approval from the bloc's health regulator and the small size of the order placed by Brussels.
The delays have caused consternation in Germany, where some regions had to temporarily close vaccination centers days after the launch of an inoculation drive on December 27.
"At the moment it doesn't look good — a hole is appearing because there's a lack of other approved vaccines and we have to fill the gap with our own vaccine," BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told news weekly Der Spiegel.
A shot from Moderna is expected to be cleared by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on January 6.
Finland has extended its ban on passenger flights from Britain until January 11 over fears about the spread of the new variant of the virus, Finnish Transport and Communications Agency announced on Thursday.
The nation has reported some of the lowest infection numbers in Europe since the start of the pandemic.
Earlier this week, the new UK strain — which is more transmissible — was detected in two people in Finland.
Slovakia is implementing stricter coronavirus measures as it steps into the new year.
A ban has been imposed on travel between districts. Ski resorts and hotels have been ordered to shut down.
People will not be allowed to meet anyone from a different household.
The restrictions will come into effect on January 1 and are scheduled to last until January 24.
Norway is lifting its ban on flights from the UK, introduced to stop the spread of a more contagious variant of the virus, with planes allowed to land from January 2 at 1600 UTC.
Norway along with dozens of other countries halted travel from Britain before Christmas after news that the new variant was rapidly spreading.
Turkey has announced a temporary ban on all entries from the UK Friday after it found cases of the new variant of COVID-19 among arrivals to the country. Health Minister Dr. Fahrettin Koca tweeted Friday that 15 people from the UK tested positive for the variant.
Koca added that all 15 people, as well as all of those they came into contact with, were under quarantine. The minister did not say when the 15 people arrived in Turkey.
Americas
Canada will now require all air travelers above the age of 5 to test negative for COVID-19 before arrival into the country.
The measure will be implemented from January 7, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said on Thursday.
The decision comes after pictures on social media showing maskless Canadian tourists abroad, triggered calls to tighten travel measures amid a rising caseload.
The mandatory 14- day quarantine for arrivals will still remain in place, despite the predeparture testing.
This comes as a setback for Canada's airlines that have taken a massive hit during the pandemic and were calling for a negative test result as an alternative to strict quarantine restrictions.
Johns Hopkins University said Friday that the US has surpassed 20 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. That is nearly one-fourth of the more than 83 million cases worldwide, but well under 10% of the US population.
The increase comes as officials race to vaccinate millions of Americans. Presidentelect Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration Tuesday for the slow pace of distributing COVID-19 vaccines and vowed to increase the speed when he takes over on January 20.
Biden acknowledged that it "will still take months to have the majority of Americans vaccinated."
Africa
Chad has locked down its capital for the first time since the global coronavirus outbreak.
The city of N'djamena will enter a week-long lockdown on January 1, a decree signed by President Idriss Deby said on Thursday, adding that it could be extended.
The country's airspace has been ordered to stop all operations, with the exception of cargo flights. The capital's borders will also be closed.
Chad has reported a relatively low caseload compared to the other nations in the region.
Middle East
Israel has vaccinated nearly 1 million people, less than two weeks after the launch of its Covid-19 inoculation campaign, the government said on Friday.
Around 950,000 Israelis have received the first dose of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, equivalent to more than 10% of the population.
According to Oxford-based researchers, Israel is vaccinating its population at a speed unmatched anywhere else in the world.
A graphic on the website "Our World in Data" comparing the number of people vaccinated in each country per 100 residents showed a clear lead for Israel at 9.18, accurate as of Wednesday.
dvv,kbd/dj (AFP,AP,dpa, Reuters)