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GreekReporter.comGreek NewsEarly Studies Show Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine 90% Effective

Early Studies Show Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine 90% Effective

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Early studies show that the coronavirus vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, in collaboration with German company BioNTech, is 90% effective in protecting against the virus, according to data released on Monday.

This marks a monumental stride in controlling the coronavirus, which has killed over 1.2 million people worldwide and brought the economic and social workings of entire countries to a standstill.

A 90% efficacy rate for the vaccine is much higher than expected. The US Federal Drug Administration has stated that it would expect 50% efficacy in a vaccine for the virus. While scientists are impressed by the efficacy rate, they warn that it could reduce as the trial continues.

The German and US trial for the vaccine enrolled over 40 thousand participants from the US and abroad since it started on June 27.

The participants are from a wide variety of age groups and ethnic backgrounds.

Half of the participants were given two doses of the experimental vaccine, and the other half a placebo. Among the 94 cases of the virus diagnosed in the participants, only 10% of them were recorded in those who had received the vaccine, and 90% in those who had received the placebo.

This means that if studies continue to prove this rate of efficacy, Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine would be as effective as other early-childhood vaccines, such as those used against  the measles.

So far, no adverse health effects have been recorded among participants, but the trial must pass the FDA’s two-month safety period before they request authorization to start the second phase of the trial, in which participants will receive another dose of the vaccine.

Pfizer executives have announced that by the end of the year, they will have created enough doses of the vaccine to administer it to 10-20 million people.

Thessaloniki native Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, stated that with the initial data, the company is “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.”

Although independent scientists and researchers have urged caution regarding early data in vaccine trials, Pfizer’s vaccine results are the first from a late-stage trial.

This fact has encouraged optimism that the virus can be combated in the near future among scientists and governments around the world.

Work on the development of the vaccine itself began in Germany by a team of researchers in late January.

While some world leaders were downplaying the severity of the virus at the time, Ughur Sahin, CEO of the German company BioNTech, predicted that the virus could have a catastrophic impact globally. The company had agreed to collaborate with Pfizer back in March of 2020.

Pfizer has not taken any federal money from the US to develop the vaccine, offered as part of President Trump’s plan called Operation Warp Speed, to release a vaccine by election day, a projected date that many scientists and experts had considered rushed or impossible.

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