Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Shows New Results of 95% Effectiveness Against Coronavirus

The dream of having a working vaccine against COVID-19 can now become a reality. Pfizer announces 95% efficacy on their COVID-19 vaccine. The first set of comprehensive results from the phase 3 clinical vaccine trial as the number of COVID-19 positive patients continues to rise worldwide.

In an interview with the New York Times, the company showed that the vaccine prevented mild and severe forms of COVID-19. The company's release also added that BNT162b2 or Pfizer's vaccine is 95% effective against coronavirus beginning 28 days after the first dose. In phase 3 clinical trial, the vaccine candidate met all of the study's primary efficacy endpoints. Furthermore, the mRNA-based vaccine was 94% effective in older adults aging from 65 years old and older, who are more susceptible to developing severe COVID-19 and do not respond to some vaccines robustly.

(Photo: Liz Masoner)

ALSO READ: COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Promising Results for Older Adults, Moderna Says

Side Effects

To date, the release added that the data monitoring committee of the research has not yet reported serious side effects or safety concerns that are connected to the vaccine itself. In the final analysis, a review of unblinded reactogenicity data (which, according to nature, represents the physical inflammatory response to vaccination) consisted of a randomized subsection of at least 8000 participants 18 years and older. The release further said that the second phase of the study demonstrates or shows that their mRNA vaccine was well tolerated, with most beseeched opposing events resolving shortly after vaccination. The company also notes that the only severe adverse events greater than 2% in frequency after the first or second dose are fatigue scoring at 3.8% and headache at 2.0% following the administering of the second dose.

In a statement, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, DVM, Ph.D., said that the study results mark an important milestone in the historic eight-month journey in bringing a vaccine capable of helping in ending the pandemic. He added that the company would continue to move in the speed of science in compiling all the data collected in the study and share with regulators around the world. He also said in the release that with hundreds of thousands of people getting infected by the virus every day, there is an urgent need to get a safe and effective vaccine.

Study duration

According to the release, the 3rd Phase of the clinical trial for BNT162b2 began on July 27 and has enrolled 43 661 participants, 41 135 of them able to get a second dose of the vaccine candidate 13th of November. The release also further said the breakdown of the clinical trial participants' diversity from approximately 150 clinical trial sites in Germany, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina, and Brazil.

The release also added that based on the present projections, the company expects to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses of vaccine by the end of 2021. With this great news, hopefully, the pandemic will soon come to an end.

Check out more news and information on COVID-19 on MD News Daily.