Sanjana Rajeev
14th November, 2020
The vaccine is 95% effective according to Pfizer. (Source: BBC)
Pharmaceutical Pfizer reported a final data analysis saying that their vaccine was 95% effective in the phase 3 trial. The vaccine was co-developed with Germany's BioNTech and found to have no major side effects.
The vaccine is called BNT162B2, enabled the way for the regulators to grant the emergency license and a green signal for the vaccine campaigns to begin.
BNT162B2 is said to become effective against the virus in 28 days post the first dosage and its effectiveness to remain unchanged for people of all ages and race, which assures the global allowance for the vaccine. "Additionally, the safety milestone required by the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) has been achieved. To date, no serious safety concerns related to the vaccine candidate have been reported. Within days, we plan to submit a request to the US FDA for an EUA based on the totality of safety and efficacy data collected, as well as manufacturing data relating to the quality and consistency of the vaccine candidate," the company said, as reported by CNBC news18.
The vaccine was also seen to prevent severe diseases in the volunteers of the phase 3 trial which consisted of more than 43,000 participants with np ''serious'' safety concerns. However, there were no reports by the medical experts regarding how long the vaccines will be providing immunity against the virus.
In India, however, the usage of vaccine is a huge challenge because it needs to stored and to be transported at a temperature of minus 70 degree Celsius. Dr VK Paul, who heads the National Task Force on COVID-19, said sufficient doses of the Pfizer vaccine, as required for the Indian population, will not be available. Still, the government is looking at the possibilities. It will work out a strategy for its procurement and distribution in case it gets the regulatory approvals as reported by The Guardian.
(Sources: CNBC News 18, The Guardian, BBC)
Edited by: Tanya Jain