German Health Minister Jens Spahn has described the announcement of a promising experimental vaccine developed by the Mainz-based BioNTech and U.S. pharma giant Pfizer as `very encouraging.’
Spahn said that an initial analysis of phase 3 clinical trial data showed that “the vaccine makes a difference’’.
He said that a German company was among the first developers of a viable drug to prevent COVID-19.
“This does not mean that approval will come tomorrow,’’ he cautioned. BioNTech and Pfizer announced that their vaccine candidate is 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 and that they planned to apply for emergency authorisation with the United States’ FDA regulator next week.
