With the pandemic entering our lives, the whole world has been waiting for the day it will end. Uğur Şahin, one of the founders of BioNTech, made not very heartwarming statements about the COVID-19 family, which is still causing the ongoing pandemic, although it is largely under control today.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Şahin mentioned the resistance of the virus to the vaccine in his statements. Making statements about whether a new vaccine will be needed or not, Şahin said that there is no need for such a thing this year, but the situation will be different in the future.
The formula of the COVID-19 vaccine may vary:
Stating that the virus in question will continue to mutate, Şahin said that with these mutations, the immunity revealed by the vaccine will weaken. He made the following statements about whether a new vaccine is needed:
“It looks like the formula of the Covid-19 vaccine will need to change towards the middle of next year because the virus is mutating. There was no need to develop a new vaccine this year. But by the middle of next year, it will be a very different situation.”
Referring to the Delta variant, Şahin said that the dominant Delta variant is more contagious, but not different enough to reduce the effect of the current vaccines. Stating that the third dose of supportive vaccines may work in controlling the delta variant and other variants, Şahin also affected that new mutations may emerge and the effect of the vaccines may weaken.
Speaking about the evolution of the virus while talking about its mutations, Şahin said the following:
“The virus will remain and the virus will adapt even more. We do not anticipate that the next generation of viruses that will change will be more manageable than they are now. This is an ongoing evolution and evolution has just begun.”
Finally, Şahin said about the 2022 plans that the third dose will be applied for those who have been vaccinated, and those who do not have access to the vaccine will be provided with the vaccine. In response to calls to share the patent for the vaccine, he responded by saying that sharing patents would put quality control at risk.
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