Covid-19 will stay with us for next 10 years, says vaccine developer

The lead scientist of the world’s first approved coronavirus vaccine has cautioned that the lethal virus will be here for several years to come, Wion reported.

Ugur Sahin, the lead researcher of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine and Chief Executive of BioNTech, said: “The virus will stay with us for the next 10 years. We need to get used to the fact there’ll be more outbreaks." He added that the world now needs a new definition of ‘normal’.

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Sahin noted that 60-70 per cent of the world’s population needs to be inoculated to prevent further Covid-19 outbreaks, the Wion report added.

US-based Pfizer has tied up with Germany’s BioNTech to produce a coronavirus vaccine that was developed and approved within a year. The vaccine came under scrutiny after some healthcare staff who took it reported allergic reactions.

Also read: Allergic reactions to Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine more frequent than expected: US official

A US official stated that the frequency of allergic reactions to the is greater than predicted earlier, CNN reported.