Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced Monday morning that their COVID-19 vaccine has proven more than 90% effective in phase 3 clinical trials in protecting people against coronavirus infection, compared to a placebo injection. Pfizer says the vaccine, developed with German company BioNTech [bee-ON-tek], “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 study enrolled 43,538 participants, Pfizer says, and “no serious safety concerns have been observed,” though “Safety and additional efficacy data continue to be collected.”
If the vaccine passes the necessary safety checks, which Pfizer says they expect to happen as soon as next week, the company will apply to the Food and Drug Administration for an Emergency Use Authorization so they can begin distributing the vaccine in the U.S. to the highest-risk individuals, such as health care providers, first responders and the elderly. If all safety protocols are met and the FDA grants approval, the vaccine could be available for widespread distribution and administration by spring of 2021.
Moderna is believed to not be far behind Pfizer in their COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial and may announce similar data later this month, while AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson could have similar data in early 2021. According to The New York Times, there are currently 11 vaccines in large-scale phase 3 clinical trials.
Pfizer claims COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective; could seek emergency FDA approval this month
