BioNTech CEO says possible to adapt vaccine quickly for Omicron

Germany's BioNTech should be able to adapt its coronavirus vaccine relatively quickly in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant, its CEO Ugur Sahin told the Reuters Next conference on Friday.

Sahin also said that vaccines should continue to provide protection against severe disease, despite mutations. BioNTech and Pfizer Inc together produced one of the first vaccines against Covid-19.

"This variant might be able to infect vaccinated people. We anticipate that infected people who have been vaccinated will still be protected against severe disease," Sahin said.

The BioNTech chief executive also said that mutations in the virus meant it was more likely that annual vaccinations would become likely, as is the case with seasonal flu.

Much remains unknown about Omicron, which was first detected in southern Africa last month and has been spotted in at least two dozen countries, just as parts of Europe were already grappling with a wave of infections of the Delta variant.

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