Pfizer and BioNTech Omicron-targeted vaccine delayed: BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin

Image Source: Reuters

Delivery of Pfizer and BioNTech SE's vaccine to combat the Omicron COVID-19 variant was delayed by several weeks due to a slower-than expected data gathering process, BionTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Germany's Bild on Thursday.

Once the vaccine is ready, the company would assess whether it was still needed, Sahin said.

"If the wave ends, that does not mean it can't begin again," he told Bild in a video interview, adding that BioNTech was in a position to continue creating new vaccines as variants emerged if needed.

"I really don't see the situation as dramatic anymore," he said, referring to how the coronavirus would develop in future.

BioNTech had previously expected to launch the vaccine by end of March, but said in late January that this depended on how much clinical data regulators would require.