COVID-19, which broke out in 2019 and caused the death of millions of people, continues to be active. Although it has been brought under control to some extent thanks to the ongoing vaccination studies all over the world, including our country, it continues to threaten human life at full speed due to a new variant emerging day by day.
The Omicron variant, which was first reported to the World Health Organization from South Africa on November 24, 2021, is one of them. The expected statement from BioNTech’s founders has recently been made about the new variant, which causes serious concern because it is more contagious than others.
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prof. Dr. Uğur Şahin: A new vaccine may be needed
As a result of his cooperation with Pfizer, one of the founders of BioNTech, which developed the COVID-19 vaccine, Prof. Dr. Uğur Şahin and Dr. Özlem Türeci made important statements about the health agenda at the online conference organized by the London-based news agency Reuters.
According to the news of NTV, Uğur Şahin, who made evaluations about the new Omicron variant, explained that a new vaccine may be needed due to its high contagiousness and the potential to make even fully vaccinated people sick.
Stating that they have enough time to adapt the currently used BioNTech vaccine to the Omicron variant, Şahin stated that they are currently waiting for the latest data on the new variant and that they will act according to the urgency of the situation. On the other hand, he added that the vaccine adapted to the new variant will be ready within the next year.
At this point, an issue that vaccinated people are most curious about has also been clarified. Stating that the Omicron variant can escape from antibodies because it has many mutations, Şahin stated that this will not cause serious diseases in vaccinated people, but the same situation does not apply to unvaccinated people.
Uğur Şahin stated that they trust the protection level of the vaccine they produce and that it can protect them from serious diseases caused by all variants, and that this protection will increase even more if additional doses are required.
So what do you think about this subject? Do not forget to share your views with us in the comments section.