BioNTech chief Ugur Sahin is confident that the COVID-19 vaccine developed with Pfizer will work against the variant first found in India.
"We are still testing the India variant, but (it) 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."
India is facing surging new cases and deaths, and fears are rising that the double mutant could be contributing to the unfolding catastrophe.
According to the World Health Organization, the B1617 variant of COVID-19 had been detected in "at least 17 countries" as of Tuesday, including the U.S.
Sahin said that BioNTech tested its two-dose vaccine, which is currently unavailable in India, against similar "double mutants." Based on the results, the CEO is confident that the shot will remain protective.
Health authorities in the U.S. have expressed concern that new, highly infectious strains of the virus could one day develop the ability to circumvent the protection provided by currently available vaccines. They are encouraging Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible so that new and potentially more harmful strains do not emerge.
According to studies, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is also effective against other strains, including B1526, the variant first identified in New York, and B117, the variant discovered in the U.K.
An Israeli study found that B1351, the South African variant, was able to evade some of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine's protection, though the shot remained highly effective.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced in February that they were testing a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine to better understand the immune response to new strains of the virus.
