Pfizer executive targets end of year for COVID-19 vaccine

An executive for Pfizer Inc., which is helping create a potential vaccine for the coronavirus, said Thursday that the company hopes to have the treatment ready by the end of the year.

“We have the potential, subject to technical success and regulatory authorization, to manufacture up to 100 million vaccine doses by the end of this year and up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021,” said Meg Ruesch, research and development leader at Pfizer’s Andover, Massachusetts, facility.

The vaccine candidate, a collaboration between Pfizer and BioNTech, “introduces into the body the genetic instructions for the cell to make a specific protein—in this case a SARS-CoV-2 protein—which is intended to stumulate an immune response,” she said.

The data on the trials has been encouraging, she said at a news conference with Gov. Charlie Baker.

She also put to rest concerns that the vaccine process is being rushed.

“We don’t cut any quality corners,” she said.

The Trump administration last week announced that it would pay Pfizer nearly $2 billion for December delivery of 100 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine under development.

Pfizer earlier this week announced it had started a study of its vaccine candidate in the U.S. and elsewhere. That study aimed to recruit 30,000 people.

“A vaccine or a treatment is critical to breaking the cycle of this insidious virus, and helping us all return to something more like regular normal” the Republican governor said.

Baker, expressing concern about clusters of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 associated with private parties, warned residents not to relax when it comes to mask wearing and social distancing.

“To all our residents, I can’t express this enough, don’t be careless or complacent,” he said.