BioNTech co-founder says vaccines will return life to normal by next winter

The man behind the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine said he's optimistic that massive drug distribution efforts will return the world to a sense of normalcy by next winter.

CEO Ugur Sahin, who cofounded BioNTech with his wife, Ozlem Tureci, said it will be "absolutely essential" to immunize the majority of the population by next fall if that goal is going to be met.

"I’m confident that this will happen because there are a number of vaccine companies helping us to increase the supply and so that we could have a normal winter next year," Sahin said.

Sahin told the BBC that his vaccine, which early analysis has shown to be more than 90% effective, could potentially halve the transmission rate of the coronavirus.