In the press - Pfizer vaccine: "A Christmas present?"

The +

On the front page of the press, the announcement yesterday of the American group Pfizer and the German laboratory BioNTech, which claim to have developed a vaccine against Covid-19 "90% effective".

This announcement arouses such hopes across the planet that some would almost believe in Santa Claus - hence the cartoon by Morten Morland, for

, which shows him bustling about, with his little elves, looking vaccine preparation.

However, it was neither Santa Claus nor his elves who developed it, but a couple of German researchers, of Turkish origin - a "dream team" formed by the two founders of the German biotechnology company BioNTech, Ughur Sahin and his wife, Ozlem Türeci.

He comes from a modest family, the son of a Turkish immigrant, a worker in a Ford factory in Cologne, she is the daughter of a doctor who immigrated to Germany, according to the English-speaking Turkish newspaper

.

The couple, all smiles in their laboratory, find themselves propelled to the front page of The Times.

According to the British daily, if successful, the fortune of Ughur Sahin and Ozlem Türeci could exceed 3 billion euros.

While news of their discovery arouses enthusiasm, it should also be viewed with caution.

warns that the scientific community "is still waiting for additional data on the tests carried out", "to have precise figures and detailed data".

, for its part, recalls that a few months ago, the Moderna group, the other large American laboratory on the track for a vaccine, had also made fragmentary announcements, "remained without a future" (it is however specified that Moderna has yet to publish new results in the coming weeks).

This time, things may be different, but L'Huma also points to the difficulties that may arise next for “universal access to this potential vaccine”.

In the meantime, the announcement from Pfizer and BioNTech comes at the right time for the new President of the United States, Joe Biden.

In the columns of

, financial expert Gregori Volokhine even affirms that it is "a gift from heaven" for the new American president.

“If Pfizer had published its results a week ago, would Trump have won?

We can ask ourselves the question, ”he doubts.

Was Pfizer's announcement postponed to prejudice Donald Trump?

The hypothesis was immediately raised by his camp and almost immediately refuted by the boss of the pharmaceutical group, according to

.

regrets that the Pfizer announcement was immediately "engulfed in a political battle - as indeed everything that seems to be happening in America today."

The newspaper calls for the Pfizer vaccine not to be the object of political instrumentalisation, as the new coronavirus has been, and still is.

Whether or not they are confirmed, the hopes raised by a potential vaccine should not make us forget that the coronavirus is still there.

And it probably will be for a long time to come.

The designer Hic recommends that you do NOT do like all those who are eager - already - to throw their mask in the trash.

A drawing found on

.

In France, where the epidemic has killed 551 people in the last 24 hours, teachers are asking for more health measures in schools.

"Protocol at school, teachers cough": according to

, some unions are calling for a strike today, in particular to obtain the recruitment of additional staff.

We do not leave each other on this.

Before saying to you tomorrow, I invite you to take a look at "Libé des oceans", the edition that

devotes to the planet's oceans, and their sounds, from the claw of a pistol-shrimp claw to the crackle of the sea ice, passing by the song of humpback whales and that of albatrosses.

To read with the contribution, in particular, of the former navigator Isabelle Autissier, who invites you to share her meeting with "an iceberg, a gigantic darker mass in the fog, carrying its ice thousands of years old", or even this "Night of trade winds with gently sloping clouds, when the ocean shines under the moon and glows with phosphorescent plankton".

Have a nice day everyone.

Every morning on France 24, you can find the Press review (Monday to Friday, at 7.20 am and 9.20 am Paris time).

Also follow the Revue des Hebdos in multicast every weekend.

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR