“Today is a great day for science and humanity”, said this Monday in a statement quoted by Reuters Albert Bourla, president and CEO of Pfizer, the American pharmaceutical company that, together with Germany’s BioNTech, has spent the past few months developing and testing an experimental vaccine for Covid-19.
According to Bourla, the most recent results revealed that the vaccine, being tested in over 150 locations with the help of 42,000 volunteers, is 90% effective. The consortium, which is the first to present the results of large-scale tests to obtain the vaccine, hopes to obtain a special authorization by the end of this month, given the urgency, by the American authorities to start distributing the vaccine – in a first phase only for people between 16 and 85 years old.
“We have reached this critical milestone in our vaccine development program, at a time when the world needs it most, with infection rates setting new records, hospitals approaching overcapacity and economies struggling to reopen,” he added Greek to the statement sent to journalists.
This figure – 90% -, explains Reuters, is still provisional and is part of a larger study, which should only be completed in early December (and only then will it be published in specialized magazines and reviewed by peers). According to the pharmaceutical company, the percentage of effectiveness revealed this Monday results from the analysis made after 94 participants in clinical trials fell ill with Covid-19 – Pfizer did not advance a number, but the news agency did the math and explained that there must have been less than 8 people out of these 94 receiving the vaccine, all the others will have received a placebo. The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to approve a vaccine against the new coronavirus, has a minimum limit of 50% effectiveness.
Still, to consolidate the certainty that the vaccine works, the consortium expects to have at least 70 more infected participants (out of 164), which, given the growing rate of infections in the United States, Bill Gruber explained in an interview. , one of Pfizer’s vice presidents for vaccines, is expected to take place by the beginning of December. “I am almost ecstatic, this is a great day for public health and for the chance of us all getting out of the situation we are in,” he said excitedly.
To save time, Pfizer and BioNTech, like the other major consortia in the race for the Covid-19 vaccine, have already started producing the vaccine still in testing – Astrazeneca, which is developing the so-called Oxford vaccine, announced there are only 3 days that he expects to have results on the effectiveness of the medicine by the end of the year and that as of January, if it proves, it will be possible to start distributing several million doses.
According to those responsible for Pfizer, by the end of this year, the company will have the capacity to deliver 50 million doses of the vaccine, two doses – which will allow 25 million people to be inoculated. Throughout 2021, the drugmaker expects to produce 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine. The United States alone ordered 100 million head; European Union, United Kingdom, Canada and Japan have also secured orders.
Since the announcement was made this Monday morning, the shares of the pharmaceutical company have risen 12% and German biotech securities 24%, reported meanwhile the Wall Street Journal.
Donald Trump has already celebrated on Twitter, with an emphasis on the impact that the novelty is having on stock exchanges. The American president wrote in capital letters that “the stock market is growing a lot” and that “the vaccine is coming soon.
“What great news!” Said Trump, at a time when he is still waiting for the final count of the elections he lost to Biden and which the American president disputes in the courts.
STOCK MARKET UP BIG, VACCINE COMING SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SUCH GREAT NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2020
Joe Biden also says it is an “excellent” novelty, but warns that the pandemic will still last. In statements cited by the Washington Post, the US President-elect warns, however, that “the end of the battle against Covid-19 is still months away” and urges Americans to continue wearing masks and to protect themselves from the new coronavirus.
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