BERLIN (Reuters) – The founder of BioNTech, a partner with Pfizer in the manufacture of one of the first coronavirus vaccines approved for use, is hopeful that the virus will be controlled in most European countries before late summer despite a vaccine that breaks down Rolaig.
In Germany, owners of closed shops and holidaymakers are getting more peace of mind about COVID-19 restrictions. Around 20,000 people protested against a lock in Kassel city center on Saturday.
EU governments are facing criticism over the slow pace of their immunization campaigns, with supply bottlenecks leaving the bloc far behind countries such as Israel, Britain and the United States.
But BioNTech founder Ugur Sahin said he was hopeful the problems would be temporary, adding that it was possible to ensure 70% of Germans would receive the vaccine by the end of September, and said at that time the virus would have few problems.
“In many European countries and the US we may not need locks until the end of the summer,” he told Weltag newspaper on Sunday. “There will be events, but they will be backstage. There will be changes, but they will not frighten us. ”
Nearly 9% of the German population had received at least one vaccine sighting on Saturday. Meanwhile Britain has passed the halfway point with 50% of adults having received at least one dose.
In Germany, slow vaccine use and ongoing restrictions put a huge strain on the fortunes of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s custodians, who are slipping in polls in election year even as COVID case numbers -19 rises looking at forcing authorities to put on the brakes trying to gradually reopen the economy.
There is a frequency of over 100 cases per 100,000 population over a week – the threshold above which authorities say they need to impose stricter speed rules to disrupt the health care system.
“There is a lot of disappointment,” Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder, a candidate likely to win Merkel in the national election, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.
“There is now a danger of a false move now to turn this third wave (of the virus) into a permanent wave,” he said ahead of Monday’s meeting of national and regional leaders who are expected to discuss the next step. of coronavirus measures.
“We have a tool: the emergency brake. It must be strictly enforced everywhere in Germany, ”said Soeder, referring to the ability to halt concessions.
Reciting with Thomas Escritt; Edited by Frances Kerry