BioNtech, which jointly developed a COVID-19 vaccine with US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, announced that it has begun research on a new mutation found in South Africa.
“We immediately started research on the new mutant virus,” Biontech said. “We expect to be able to confirm more data through laboratory tests within two weeks at the latest.”
The study is said to focus on whether the new mutant virus can evade existing vaccines.
BioNTech added that if the mutant virus can evade the immune response caused by the vaccine, it could redesign the vaccine within six weeks and ship the initial batch in 100 days.
Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) also said that analysis of the new mutation would take “weeks”, and the Center for Infectious Disease Response Innovation in South Africa explained that it would take at least two weeks to obtain results from additional research.
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