(Bloomberg) -- The current generation of Covid-19 vaccines probably will still protect against severe disease in people infected by the omicron variant, BioNTech SE Chief Executive Officer Ugur Sahin said. 

The new, highly mutated variant could result in more vaccinated people becoming infected, Dow Jones cited Sahin as saying in an interview. But even if the variant is able to elude antibodies in vaccinated people, it will probably still be targeted by immune cells, the news service cited Sahin as saying. 

BioNTech is Pfizer Inc.’s partner on the Covid vaccine. 

“Don’t freak out,” Sahin said in the interview. “The plan remains the same: Speed up the administration of a third booster shot.”

His comments add to a growing range of views from vaccine developers on the efficacy of their shots against the new variant.

Moderna Inc. executives said earlier that omicron’s many mutations suggest new vaccines will be needed, triggering a drop in financial markets. The University of Oxford, which developed a vaccine with AstraZeneca Plc, said there’s no evidence existing shots won’t provide some protection against the new strain.

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