Moderna CEO Predicts COVID-19 to End in 2022

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic will end in 2022 after the process of vaccination production, and vaccination rollout increases, Sputnik cited Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) on Thursday.

He asserted that everyone will be provided vaccines by the middle of the upcoming year, in addition, people who are in high risk will have their booster shots against the virus. He also added that people can get back to their routines.

Regarding to the status of the unvaccinated persons, Bancel highlighted: "Those who do not get vaccinated will immunize themselves naturally because the Delta variant is so contagious," adding "In this way, we will end up in a situation similar to that of the flu. You can either get vaccinated and have a good winter, or you don't do it and risk getting sick and possibly even ending up in hospital. Let's not forget that tens of thousands die from the flu every year in Europe and the US."

Moreover, the CEO revealed that Moderna is starting the clinical trials of producing a vaccine for flu, and Coronavirus at the same time which could be availabe in 2023, alongside, producing vaccines that could control the common causes of flue and cold.

It is worthy to mention that a new study conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that the Moderna vaccine provides more protection against COVID-19.

Moreover, Moderna gives a higher percentage of protection than Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, as Moderna gives almost 93%, while Pfizer gives 88%, and Johnson & Johnson provides only 71% protection.

The CNN cited parts from the study, saying: “Among U.S. adults without immunocompromising conditions, vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalization during March 11- August 15, 2021, was higher for the Moderna vaccine (93%) than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (88%) and the Janssen vaccine (71%).”

It added: “Although these real-world data suggest some variation in levels of protection by the vaccine, all FDA-approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccines provide substantial protection against COVID-19 hospitalization.”