After 90%, 95%.
Who says better?
According to the full results of their large-scale clinical trial, the vaccine developed by the Pfizer / BioNTech alliance is 95% effective in preventing Covid-19, the two companies said in a statement on Wednesday.
A better rate than that of the partial results published last week, which showed "more than 90%" of effectiveness.
These results support the predictions of the American authorities, according to which at least one vaccine can begin to be injected into the arms of Americans before the end of the year.
BREAKING: We are proud to announce, along with @BioNTech_Group, that the Phase 3 study of our # COVID19 vaccine candidate has met all primary efficacy endpoints.
- Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) November 18, 2020
95% efficiency, what does this mean?
The laboratory explains that 162 members of the placebo group in the trial contracted Covid-19, compared with only 8 in the vaccinated group, within seven days of the second dose of the vaccine.
The latter is taken in two doses, three weeks apart.
The trial protocol was to assess efficacy once a total of 170 cases were reached in both groups.
"More than 94%" effective on the elderly
In total, more than 43,000 people have volunteered for this trial, which began at the end of July.
It is supposed to continue.
In addition, nine severe cases of Covid-19 were observed in the placebo group, and one in the vaccinated group.
Pfizer will apply for marketing authorization "within a few days" from the United States Drugs Agency (FDA).
The FDA could then give the green light for marketing as early as December, a senior official in the government operation for vaccines, Moncef Slaoui, said on Monday.
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The effectiveness of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for people over 65 was "over 94%," the statement said.
This level of efficacy, if confirmed in the population, would place the vaccine among the most effective in the world, comparable to that of measles, and much better than the influenza vaccine, which recently was only effective. at 19 to 60%.
A "well tolerated" vaccine
The only significant side effects seen in over 2% of participants were fatigue (3.8%) and headaches (2%), leading manufacturers to say that the vaccine is "well tolerated".
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Pfizer was waiting to have two months of follow-up for at least half of the participants before seeking clearance from the FDA, a step the group knew would be taken this week.
“The trial marks an important milestone in the historic eight-month quest to develop a vaccine capable of ending this devastating pandemic,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
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For Ugur Sahin, the co-founder of BioNTech, a small German biotechnology company that developed the new technology on which the vaccine is based, messenger RNA, “this achievement illustrates the potential of messenger RNA as a new class of drugs. ".
The United States, Europe and other countries have already reserved hundreds of millions of doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The group plans to be able to produce 50 million this year, which is enough to vaccinate 25 million people, and 1.3 billion in 2021.