Irish pharma chief: Covid-19 vaccine 'to transform economy by the spring' 

Cathal Friel, executive chairman of pharmaceutical services firm Open Orphan, said economic restrictions will “by and large” be lifted by early summer because there will be a number of vaccines developed for the coronavirus available around the world by that time. File picture: Pexels

The head of the Irish drugs firm that is involved in international Covid-19 vaccine trials said that large parts of the vulnerable Irish population will have been vaccinated against Covid-19 by April or May, promising to transform the economic outlook by next summer.

Cathal Friel, executive chairman of pharmaceutical services firm Open Orphan, said economic restrictions will “by and large” be lifted by early summer because there will be a number of vaccines developed for the coronavirus available around the world by that time.

“By next April and May, a majority of the most vulnerable groups, the sick, the infirm” in Ireland will be vaccinated, boosting the confidence of Government that it can call a halt to major health restrictions “and, as such, life will start getting back to normal”, Mr Friel said in an interview.

“There will be a number of vaccines. Coronaviruses are predictable and don’t change and that means that unlike annual influenza they do not change and are treatable with a vaccine,” he told the Irish Examiner. 

However, Mr Friel said ahead of the vaccines that "we are going to have to get through a bumpy winter” as economies around the world face successive openings and lockdowns.

His comments came on the day that stock markets around the world sold off sharply as Germany imposed severe new restrictions and French president Emmanuel Macron prepared to announce tougher restrictions that may also include a shutdown. 

Switzerland closed nightclubs and imposed other new limits. Spain, Italy, and Portugal reported record numbers of new cases.

“In these circumstances, a UK lockdown seems not far behind, given the current direction of travel across the continent,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online broker IG.

The Ftse-100 dropped 2.5% and the Euro Stoxx index, which includes leading company shares across Europe, shed 3%.

In Ireland, the sell-off was broad-based.

Ryanair shares dropped 5.3%, petrol and food forecourt operator Applegreen fell slid by 4.5%, and food giants Kerry Group and Glanbia fell by 4.5% and 2.8%. 

The major banks were mixed, however, with AIB dropping 3.5% but Bank of Ireland shares ended slightly higher after the lender issued a better-than-expected trading update for the last three months.  

Mr Friel at Open Orphan said that a number of vaccines in development around the world offer the hope to transform economies by next summer. 

He said that the first-generation vaccines may only provide immunity to the disease for a short period, but will be followed by better vaccines.                                         

“I think that the first generation of the Covid vaccines will act a lot like the flu vaccines and they might only give a year’s protection," he said. 

"There will be more versions to come but, in my opinion, governments around the world will by the summer have decided that they have protected the most vulnerable, the doctors and nurses and the world can get back to work,” Mr Friel said.