On Wednesday, Pfizer Inc announced that it has completed the late-stage trials of its coronavirus vaccine candidate. According to the company, the results yielded a 95% efficacy. They stated that they had the safety data required and will soon move to apply for emergency authorization in the US, within the next few days.
This vaccine candidate was developed by the pharmaceutical company with joint efforts from BioNTech SE, a German biotech company. As per the drugmaker, their vaccine is consistent regardless of ethnicity demographics and age.
The coronavirus trials conducted had also not yielded any major side effects. To the company, this is a sign that immunization can be employed all over the world. Talking about their vaccine candidate, Pfizer also informed that they had observed an efficacy of 94% in adults over the age of 65. They expressed optimism over this number, especially since it is people in this age bracket who are at most risk.
The final analysis was presented by the company just a week after initial results were announced. The trials at the time had indicated that the vaccine was over 90% effective. On Monday, Moderna Inc had also released preliminary data for its coronavirus vaccine, which showed an efficacy similar to that of Pfizer’s candidate.
Both vaccines from the two companies were developed with the help of new technology referred to as messenger RNA (mRNA). Globally, over 1.3 million people have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus, which has caused long-term damage to daily life and economies. Thus, this technology was used in an attempt to battle this disease as it continues to claim lives all over the world.
The companies have announced that once the vaccine rolls out, some people will be prioritized. This includes health care workers in the United States. Large-scale production of the candidates, on the other hand, is expected to take several months.
Pfizer revealed further details about its vaccine candidate on Wednesday. They had called on 170 patients of the virus out of the 43,000 volunteers. 162 of the subjects were given a placebo whereas, the rest were placed in the vaccine group. 10 people had contracted severe symptoms of the Covid-19 virus and only one of them was given the vaccine.
The company went on to add that the candidate had been well-received and had caused only moderate and mild side effects. However, more than 2% of the people tested had developed fatigue. It also affected 3.7% of the recipients but, only after they were given the second dose. Older adults, meanwhile, had reported that they experienced milder and fewer solicited side effects after receiving the vaccine.
These results have brought along some hope of getting rid of the virus from the world. As of now, Europe, United States, and everywhere else, this disease is overburdening health care systems. Every day, a record number of hospitalizations and cases is recorded. The number of people contracting the virus is expected to rise significantly as winter swoops in on the northern hemisphere.
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