ISTANBUL (Reuters)

BioNTech SE Chief Executive Ugur Sahin said on Thursday (May 20) the COVID-19 vaccine developed with Pfizer Inc is expected to be 70 per cent to 75 per cent effective in protecting against infections caused by the coronavirus variant first detected in India.

“So far we’ve had the chance to test our vaccine against more than 30 variants of the virus. It has proven effective against mutations so far,” said Sahin.

Since the concerning COVID-19 variant, known as B.1.617.2, was first identified in India, it has ravaged that country and spread to at least 26 nations out of the 53 in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) European Region.

The WHO’s regional director said on Thursday (May 20) that COVID-19 vaccines being deployed in Europe, including the Pfizer/BioNTech shot, appear able to protect against circulating virus variants that have caused concern because they are more easily transmitted.

Sahin was speaking with Turkish Health Minister Fehrettin Koca, who separately said the country recorded less than 10,000 daily new coronavirus cases for the first time since March 1.

Turkey, which was briefly second globally, last month in new infections, is using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine as well as China’s Sinovac Biotech shot in its vaccination program.