Pfizer-BioNTech to provide 2 billion Covid-19 vaccine to Poor Nations

In a bid to fulfil the international calls for vaccine solidarity, American pharmaceutical company, Pfizer and German company, BioNTech have pledged to provide 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine to poor countries in middle-income and low-income countries in next 18 months. This announcement was made at the global health summit hosted by Italy.

Highlights

Both the companies developed first vaccine which was authorised for use in United States and Europe. Pfizer announced that, it is expecting to provide a billion of doses in 2021 and another billion in 2022. However, it was not clear whether the companies would deliver vaccines through COVAX program or not.

About Pfizer Inc.

It is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation established in New York City. It has been named after its co-founder, Charles Pfizer. Company develops and produces medicines and vaccines for immunology, cardiology, oncology, neurology and endocrinology. It is ranked at 64^th position on Fortune 500 and at 49^th place on Forbes Global 2000.

BioNTech SE

It is a German biotechnology company based in Mainz. It develops and manufactures active immunotherapies for patient-specific approaches. It also develops pharmaceutical candidates on the basis of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) for use as vaccines against infectious diseases & as protein replacement therapies for rare diseases.

Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

The vaccine is sold under brand name Comirnaty. It is an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. It is authorized for use on people over 12 years to protect against SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2021