Supply disruptions

Vaccine supplies to Europe are at risk as there is a shortage of vaccines already approved there, the head of BioNTech said.

German bioengineering company BioNTech is working to ramp up production of the coronavirus vaccine as supplies from other manufacturers could be disrupted. The head of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, said this in an interview.

Ugur said: "Right now it does not look rosy. There is a gap due to lack of other approved vaccines and we have to fill it with our own product".

Commenting on the fact that the US has ordered twice as many doses as the EU, Sahin pointed out that the process of ordering the vaccine in the EU is not as fast. At the same time, the head of BioNTech said he was surprised that the EU had awarded contracts to suppliers whose vaccines would not be available until the end of 2021. According to Sahin, this may have been due to the feeling that the situation with the coronavirus will be under control.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation had approved the use of a vaccine co-produced by Pfizer and BioNTech against the coronavirus. This will allow states to establish imports of the vaccine, speed up their regulatory procedures, and allow international organisations to procure the drug for countries in need. The European Commission had previously approved the vaccine, and in late December, EU residents began being vaccinated with the drug.

In the US, a vaccine from the US company Moderna was approved in mid-December. The effectiveness has been shown to be 94% and up to 100% in severe cases.