The German company BioNtech and the U.S. firm Pfizer said their jointly-produced vaccine was 90% effective at preventing COVID-19. The Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine will need to be administered in two injections, meaning that large numbers of doses will need to be produced.
Vice President Mike Pence was among Trump administration officials saying support from the government's Operation Warp Speed program helped accelerate the development of the vaccine, which was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 infections in an interim analysis. The truth is that Pfizer didn't receive any funding from Operation Warp Speed for the development, clinical trial and manufacturing of the vaccine. Rather, its partner, BioNtech SE, has received money - from the German government. BioNtech is credited for contributing the messenger RNA technology, which prompts the body to make a key protein from the virus, creating an immune response. The biotechnology company already had a history of working with Pfizer on influenza vaccines. Berlin gave the company $445 million in an agreement in September to help accelerate the vaccine by building out manufacturing and development capacity in its home market. What the U.S. did, meanwhile, was commit to buying hundreds of millions of vaccines in advance to secure Americans were among the first in line if it clinches an emergency-use authorization or approval from the FDA. The European Union also reached an agreement with the two companies that secured it 200 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine that is set to be approved soon. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said the vaccine is likely to be ready in the first quarter of 2021 and hopes to secure 100 million doses for Germany. Spahn, who contracted COVID-19 himself in late October, said it's important that Germany and the rest of the EU don't fall behind in the vaccine rollout.
Articles:
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-09/pfizer-vaccine-s-funding-came-from-berlin-not-washington
- https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-vaccine-eu-reaches-deal-with-pfizer-biontech/a-55551329
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