Supply chain problems
Corona current: in 2020 only half as many doses of vaccine as planned
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Pfizer and Biontech originally wanted to deliver 100 million doses of their corona vaccine this year. Now there is only talk of half.
Most recently, the pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Biontech made hope to be able to deliver 100 million doses of their newly developed vaccine against the corona virus by the end of 2020. Now the companies have to correct these figures: According to the "Wall Street Journal" a spokeswoman for Pfizer said that the current situation only 50 million cans by the end of 2020 can be delivered. The reason for this is therefore difficulties in the supply chain of the raw materials that are needed for the vaccine. Since two doses of vaccine are required per person, that would be enough for 25 million people.
Raw materials of poor quality
Until mid-November, the pharmaceutical giant had assumed that it would be able to deliver the 100 million vaccine doses. The "Wall Street Journal" also spoke to an insider who is involved in the development of the vaccine. According to him, the problem is that some previous batches of raw materials would not have met standardsthat are necessary for the vaccine. In addition, the results of the clinical study are said to have been available later than originally expected. This delayed production. Pfizer has not commented on this inside information to date.
After all: The US company expects to be able to deliver the more than one billion doses of the vaccine promised for 2021. The UK is also the first country to have just approved an emergency license. A corresponding decision by the US FDA is expected for the USA by mid-December. The European Medicines Agency Ema is also currently examining such an application. The approval process for the vaccine from the biotech company Moderna is also running in parallel.
95 percent protection against corona infection
According to available studies, the vaccine from Pfizer and Biontech protects 95 percent against corona infection. It is an mRNA vaccine that contains genetic information about the virus. The body uses this to create a virus protein. In this case, it is a surface protein that the virus uses to penetrate the cells. The vaccination is intended to produce antibodies against this protein that switch off the pathogen before it can enter the cells and multiply.