On November 9, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer made an announcement that it early look at data from its coronavirus vaccine shows it is more than 90% effective, the efficacy is much better than expected.
Race for the vaccine
The interim analysis looked at the first 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the more than 43,000 volunteer who got either two doses of the vaccine or got a placebo.
The study found that fewer than 10% of infections were in participants who had been given the coronavirus vaccine and more than 90% of the cases were in people who had been given a placebo.
Also Read: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Tests Positive for COVID-19
According to Pfizer, the vaccine, which was made with German partner BioNTech, had an efficacy rate higher than 90% at seven days after the second dose. This means the protection is achieved 28 days after a person begins vaccination.
The vaccine also requires two doses and the US Food and Drug Administration or FDA has said that it would expect at least 50% efficacy from any coronavirus vaccine.
Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta told CNN that Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla called the COVID-19 vaccine the greatest medicine advance in the world's last 100 years. Bourla said that emotions are very high especially after the results were out.
Bourla added that the vaccine is extraordinary and it is coming at a time that the world needs it the most. He noted that the United States has recently seen more than 100,000 daily new COVID-19 cases.
Pfizer stated that it plans to seek emergency use authorization from the FDA after volunteers have been monitored for two months after getting their second dose of vaccine, as requested by the FDA. The company also said that it anticipated reaching the marker by the third week of November.
More results to come
Despite the amazing news, there is still more to learn about the vaccine. The Phase 3 trial of the Pfizer vaccine has enrolled 43,538 participants since July 27. As of November 8, 38,955 of the volunteers have received a second dose of the vaccine.
Pfizer says 42% of international trail sites and 30% of US trial sites involve volunteers and racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds. The final goal of the trial is to reach 164 cases of coronavirus infection, according to The Washington Post.
The vaccine made by Pfizer uses an approved technology that has not been seen before. It is called the messenger RNA or mRNA, to produce an immune response in people who are vaccinated.
The mRNA vaccine approach uses genetic material called mRNA to trick the cells into producing bits of protein that look like pieces of the virus.
Immune system learns to recognize and attack the bits and would react fast to any actual infection. Pfizer said that it will evaluate whether the vaccines protects people against severe COVID-19 disease and whether the vaccine can provide long-term protection against the virus, even in patients who have been infected by COVID-19 before.
Also, it is still not clear yet on whether the vaccine for the virus will become a yearly or season shot, but medical experts believe that it is likely.
Related Article: Back to Back Lock Downs: New York Hits Highest COVID-19 Cases in Five Months
