BioNTech hopes COVID-19 vaccine will immunize for at least a year

BioNTech's BNTX.O co-founder and chief executive said he was optimistic that the protective effect of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, co-developed with Pfizer PFE.N, would last for at least a year.

The two companies earlier on Monday became the first drugmakers to release successful trial data, saying their vaccine was shown to be more than 90% effective, a major victory in the fight against the pandemic.

“We should be more optimistic that the immunisation effect can last for at least a year,” CEO Ugur Sahin told Reuters.

While it was not yet known how long the protection would last, he said research on recovered patients had shown that those with high antibodies levels to begin with have not experienced a sharp drop in those levels, and the same would likely go for vaccinated people.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vaccines-pfizer-du/biontech-hopes-covid-19-vaccine-will-immunize-for-at-least-a-year-idUSKBN27P1J2