#COVID19: Pfizer says its Vaccine (Still Being Tested) May Be 90% Effective

Leading multinational Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, along with Biontech has announced that the mRNA-based vaccine candidate against COVID-19 achieved success in first Interim Analysis.

This means that we are one step closer to getting an efficient vaccine against the COVID-19 virus that has plagued the most part of 2020.

According to Pfizer:

• The Vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis.
• The analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants.
• The study enrolled 43,538 participants, with 42% having diverse backgrounds, and no serious safety concerns have been observed; Safety and additional efficacy data continue to be collected.
• Submission for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) planned for soon after the required safety milestone is achieved, which is currently expected to occur in the third week of November.
• A clinical trial to continue through to final analysis at 164 confirmed cases to collect further data and characterize the vaccine candidate’s performance against other study endpoints.

“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO. “We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen. With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”

The main issue is that the vaccine, which is based on a novel technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below.

Reacting to this news, the Nigerian Presidency welcomed the new development through PA to the president on new media, Bashir Ahmad.

See his tweet below:

President @MBuhari has welcomed the arrival of first effective coronavirus vaccine after a successful human trial phase. – @GarShehu pic.twitter.com/b1liDlpmaa

— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) November 9, 2020