“We are still testing the Indian variant, but the Indian
variant has mutations that we have already tested for and which our vaccine
works against, so I am confident,” said Sahin.
“The vaccine is cleverly built and I’m convinced the bulwark
will hold. And if we have to strengthen the bulwark again, then we will do it,
that I’m not worried about,” he added.
India is facing surging new cases and deaths in the
pandemic, and fears are rising that the variant could be contributing to the
unfolding catastrophe.
The World Health Organization has said the B.1.617 variant
of Covid-19 first found in India had as of Tuesday been detected in “at least
17 countries”.
The health agency recently listed B.1.617 — which counts
several sub-lineages with slightly different mutations and characteristics — as
a “variant of interest”.
But so far it has stopped short of declaring it a “variant
of concern”, which would have indicated that it is more dangerous than the
original version of the virus by, for instance, being more transmissible,
deadly, or able to dodge vaccine protections.
The BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine was the first to win
authorisation in the West and has since been deployed in dozens of countries
worldwide.
Giving an update on the authorisation process in China,
Sahin said the approval was “very possible in July”.
“We are almost through with all questions,” he said.
-AFP
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