[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The CEO of Germany's BioNTech predicted that the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed with the U.S. company Pfizer will provide strong protection against severe illness caused by the new variant Omicron.
According to major foreign media on the 30th (local time), Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech, stated, "The vaccine's effectiveness is expected to decrease somewhat against mild or moderate symptoms caused by the Omicron variant."
BioNTech is currently investigating whether it needs to modify the COVID-19 vaccine to respond to Omicron.
To this end, they are analyzing blood samples from individuals who have received 2 to 3 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to check if antibodies capable of neutralizing Omicron are present. The investigation is expected to take about two weeks.
In an interview with Dow Jones on the same day, CEO Sahin said, "Even if the new variant can evade antibodies, it will still be attacked by immune cells," adding, "We need to accelerate the pace of booster shots (additional vaccinations)."
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