Lead scientist behind Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, Ugur Sahin, says life will not return to normal till next winter

A lead scientist behind Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, Ugur Sahin, has warned that the jab needs time to be effective and that life will not return to normal till next winter.

Together with US giant Pfizer, BioN is developing the leading candidate in the worldwide chase for a vaccine.

An effective inoculation against COVID-19 has been billed as the best way to end the global health crisis, but Professor Ugur Sahin, the co-founder of BioNTech, has cautioned against assuming the pandemic is behind us.  

"Our goal is to deliver more than 300 million doses by April next year, which could already have an impact," he said.

The vaccine, which Pfizer reports is over 90 percent effective, could be distributed to the general public as early as mid-December. 

Israel signed a deal with Pfizer Inc on Friday to receive 8 million doses of the drugmaker's potential COVID-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, enough to cover close to half of Israel`s population.

Also read: Israel signs deal with Pfizer for potential COVID-19 vaccine

The infection rate will then go down in summer, Sahin predicted, adding that it is essential that there is a high takeup of the vaccination by autumn.

A number of vaccination companies are working to increase the supply, he said: "so we could have a normal winter next (year)."

Sahin and his wife Ozlem Tureci founded BioNTech in the western German city of Mainz in 2008.

Having identified promising vaccine blueprints, the company formed a partnership in March with American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

The announcement on Monday that their vaccine was more than 90 percent effective in trials led news bulletins around the world and sent stock markets and hopes soaring. 

BioNTech is now worth $25.8 billion (21.8 billion euros), more than Germany's largest lender Deutsche Bank.