코로나 백신 개발사 CEO "내년 겨울엔 일상으로 돌아갈 수 있다"
The chief executive of BioNTech,... one of the companies working with Pfizer on developing a COVID-19 vaccine,... says he's hopeful its potential vaccine could help life return to normality by next winter.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
It's been nearly a year since the first outbreak of COVID-19,... a virus which has killed over a million people worldwide,... and infected over 54 million.
With the massive global resurgence,... returning to how things were pre-pandemic remains gloomy.
However,... the CEO of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin,... speaking to 'The Andrew Marr Show' on the BBC on Sunday,.... said the chance of getting the pandemic under control has received a boost since Pfizer and the Germany biotech company reported last week an over 90-percent efficacy on its trial vaccine.
According to Sahin,... if all goes as planned,... the world could return to normality by next winter.
On when the first batch could be available,... Sahin says it could be delivered from the end of this year,... or the start of 2021,... "if everything continues to go well”.
He added the company's goal is to deliver more than 300 million doses through April next year,... which could start to curb the spread of the virus.
The BioNTech chief believes the bigger impact will happen next summer,... when more doses are distributed to the general public.
Last week Pfizer announced that the trial vaccine was more than 90-percent effective in preventing the virus among volunteers,... who had no evidence of prior COVID-19 infection.
If the results hold up,... the level of protection could be similar to highly effective childhood vaccines, such as those for measles.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
