U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech announced Monday their coronavirus vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 among those without evidence of prior infection, hailing the development as “a great day for science and humanity.”
“I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla said.
Drugmakers and research centers in the world are just falling all over themselves to deliver effective vaccines against the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 1.25 million lives worldwide.
Specialists are hoping for a coronavirus vaccine that is at least 75% effective. In comparison, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has previously said one that is 50% or 60% effective would be acceptable.
The analysis evaluated 94 confirmed Covid-19 infections among the trial’s 43,538 participants. Pfizer and BioNTech said the case split between vaccinated individuals and those who received a placebo indicated a vaccine efficacy rate of above 90% at seven days after the second dose.
It means that the protection from Covid-19 is achieved 28 days after the initial vaccination, consisting of a two-dose schedule.
The final vaccine efficacy percentage may vary; however, safety and additional data continue to be collected.
“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,” Bourla said in a statement.
“We are at the 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,” Bourla continued.
“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.”
Roughly 42% of the trial’s global participants had racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, Pfizer and BioNTech said, adding that there haven’t been any serious safety concerns reported yet.
Based on projections, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to produce up to 50 million vaccine doses this year and up to 1.3 billion in 2021.
They plan to submit data from the full phase three trial, which began on July 27, for scientific peer-review publication.
U.S. officials and scientists are hopeful a vaccine to prevent Covid-19 will be ready in the first half of 2021 — 12 to 18 months since Chinese scientists first identified the coronavirus and mapped its genetic sequence.