New Covid vaccine will be needed next year: BioNTech CEO

 A new Covid vaccine is likely to be needed by next year to protect people from future mutations of the coronavirus, said the head of BioNTech SE, the German company that developed the first Covid vaccine. 

Ugur Sahin, co-founder and chief executive officer of BioNtech, has said that current variants of Covid, such as the delta strain, are not different enough to undermine current vaccinations. However, new strains will emerge that can evade booster shots and the body’s immune defenses, Sahin told Financial Times.

He said this year a different vaccine is completely unneeded, “but by mid-next year, it could be a different situation". This is a continuous evolution, and that evolution has just started," he said. 

BioNTech joined hands with US pharma giant Pfizer to develop its coronavirus vaccine. 

Last month, the companies submitted initial data to U.S. regulators about the use of the vaccine in children aged 5 to 11, one step closer to bringing shots to school-age kids. 

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/new-covid-vaccines-will-be-needed-next-year-predicts-biontech-ceo-11633262870318.html