BioNTech's Covid vaccine is a triumph of innovation and immigration | Hans-Werner Sinn

Pioneered by a Turkish-German couple, its significance exceeds its practical value

The world took note when the German startup BioNTech announced its breakthrough in the development of a new type of vaccine to combat Covid-19. After testing tens of thousands of people, BioNTech's vaccine has been shown to be 95% effective in providing protection for those who would otherwise have been infected. The company was the first to apply for emergency use authorisation for a coronavirus vaccine in the US and it has announced it will soon take similar steps in Europe.

Antiviral vaccines are usually made with devitalised viral materials fabricated outside the body but BioNTech has pursued a new method of injecting genetically modified RNA into the patient. This prompts the patient's cells to produce a characteristic protein of the relevant Sars-CoV-2 virus themselves, enabling the body's immune system to build up an effective response before it encounters the real virus.