Pfizer Inc said on Wednesday that final results from the late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine show it was 95% effective, adding it had the required two-months of safety data and would apply for emergency U.S. authorization within days.
The drugmaker said efficacy of the vaccine developed with German partner BioNTech SE was consistent across age and ethnicity demographics, and that there were no major side effects, a sign that the immunization could be employed broadly around the world.
Efficacy in adults over 65 years, who are at particular risk from the virus, was over 94%.
The final analysis comes just one week after initial results from the trial showed the vaccine was more than 90% effective. Moderna Inc on Monday released preliminary data for its vaccine, showing similar effectiveness.
The better-than-expected data from the two vaccines, both developed with new technology known as messenger RNA (mRNA), have raised hopes for an end to a resurgent pandemic that has killed more than 1.3 million people globally and wreaked havoc upon economies and daily life.
However, while some groups such as healthcare workers will be prioritized in the United States for vaccinations this year, it will be months before large-scale rollouts begin.
Pfizer said on Wednesday there had been 170 cases of the disease in its trial of more 43,000 volunteers, of which 162 were observed in the placebo arm and 8 were in the vaccine group.
Ten people developed severe COVID-19, one of whom received the vaccine.
It also said the vaccine was well-tolerated and that side effects were mostly mild to moderate and cleared up quickly.
The only severe adverse event that affected more than 2% of those vaccinated was fatigue, which affected 3.7% of recipients after the second dose. Older adults tended to report fewer and milder solicited adverse events following vaccination.
The results come as the virus is running rampant in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, placing an enormous strain on healthcare systems with record numbers of new cases and hospitalizations.
The approach of winter in the northern hemisphere in tandem with the holiday season is expected to worsen case numbers as people spend more time indoors and get together for family gatherings.
"With hundreds of thousands of people around the globe infected every day, we urgently need to get a safe and effective vaccine to the world," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.
Pfizer and BioNTech also said they plan to submit the data to other regulatory agencies around the world as well as the United States. They also plan to submit data from the study to a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
Pfizer reiterated it expects to make as many as 50 million vaccine doses this year, enough to protect 25 million people, and then produce up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
Of the dozens of drugmakers and research groups racing to develop vaccines against COVID-19, the next data release will likely be from AstraZeneca Plc with the University of Oxford in November or December. Johnson & Johnson says it is on track to deliver data this year.
Reuters
Wed Nov 18 2020
The final analysis comes just one week after initial results from the trial showed the vaccine was more than 90 pct effective. REUTERSpic
Kerajaan Madani tidak lari dari landasan perlembagaan - Anwar Ibrahim
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menegaskan, kerajaan tidak akan mengubah ketetapan Islam sebagai agama rasmi dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan sebagaimana didakwa oleh pembangkang.
Pengerusi DAP Johor: Chin Tong sedia beri laluan kepada Nie Ching
Liew Chin Tong sedia berundur daripada jawatannya sebagai Pengerusi DAP Johor untuk memberi ruang kepada timbalannya, Teo Nie Ching.
AWANI Ringkas: Golongan elit fobia bahasa kebangsaan
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Fantastic Food Festival 7.0 by Kak Nab meriah, platform usahawan IKS bina 'branding' tersendiri
Penganjuran Fantastic Food Festival (FFF) 7.0 dengan kerjasama Yaya Empire Perfume menjadi satu sinergi terbaik untuk para usahawan memasarkan produk.
Tiga anggota polis ditahan di pusat hiburan, positif dadah
Tiga anggota polis antara 14 individu ditahan setelah didapati positif dadah dalam serbuan di sebuah pusat hiburan dekat Taman Dutamas, Cheras.
Mesir hantar 22 tan bantuan kemanusiaan ke Lubnan
Mesir menghantar 22 tan bantuan kemanusiaan ke Lubnan, menurut Kementerian Luar negara itu pada Sabtu.
Kerajaan tidak pernah bincang tukar status agama Islam sebagai agama Persekutuan - PM Anwar
Kerajaan tidak pernah berbincang untuk menukar status agama Islam sebagai agama Persekutuan, tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Petani berdepan masalah untuk hasilkan padi pada musim depan - Pesak
Petani di kawasan seliaan Lembaga Kemajuan Pertanian Kemubu berdepan masalah untuk mengusahakan tanaman padi pada musim depan.
Macron gesa penghantaran senjata ke Israel dihentikan
Presiden Perancis Emmanuel Macron menggesa agar penghantaran senjata ke Israel dihentikan berikutan operasi ketenteraannya di Gaza yang lebih setahun telah membunuh hampir 42,000 orang dan mencederakan kira-kira 97,000 yang lain.
Suspek bunuh bapa sempat beli pisau lipat sebelum ditemui rebah
Lelaki OKU mental yang didakwa membunuh bapanya di rumah mereka di Kampung Senaling Kuala Pilah sempat membeli pisau lipat di sebuah kedai sebelum tiba-tiba rebah.
Dr Roland nafi takut-takutkan rakyat Malaysia untuk ambil vaksin Pfizer
Pengasas The KL Sky Clinic Dr Roland Victor, menafikan bahawa beliau menakut-nakutkan rakyat Malaysia atau sesiapa daripada mengambil vaksin Pfizer Comirnaty.
MyPELINDUNG 2024: Jamin kehidupan selamat bersama COVID-19
Kempen MyPELINDUNG 2024 terus membantu rakyat Malaysia untuk menyesuaikan diri dengan norma baharu.
Suruhanjaya Eropah luluskan vaksin COVID-19 versi terkini
Suruhanjaya Eropah sudah meluluskan versi terkini vaksin COVID-19 yang dibangunkan oleh BioNTech-Pfizer.
Kempen MyPELINDUNG didik masyarakat terus perangi COVID-19
Meskipun Malaysia telah mencapai kemajuan ketara, namun virus COVID-19 tetap kekal sebagai satu kebimbangan kesihatan.
Puting beliung musnahkan gudang utama Pfizer
Syarikat farmaseutikal Pfizer mengesahkan bahawa kompleks tersebut telah rosak akibat puting beliung yang berlaku dekat Rocky Mount.
Belgium akan musnahkan hampir 6 juta vaksin COVID-19 yang luput
Belgium tidak boleh menggunakan lagi lebihan vaksin asli dan 2.6 juta dos Moderna dan 3.3 juta dos Pfizer akan dimusnahkan secepat mungkin.
WEF2023: Pfizer umum penjualan tanpa untung kepada negara miskin
Ini termasuk ubat luar paten, menjadikan jumlah keseluruhan produk yang ditawarkan kepada lebih 500 jenis.
Vaksin COVID-19: AS setuju cadangan dos penggalak kepada 12 tahun ke atas
CDC dijangka menerima pakai cadangan itu, sebagai langkah sebelum suntikan boleh dimulakan.
Moderna saman Pfizer, BioNTech kerana tiru paten
Moderna mendakwa, kedua-dua syarikat itu meniru teknologi yang dihasilkannya sejak sekian lama sebelum pandemik bermula.
COVID-19: Singapura beri suntikan dos penggalak kepada kanak-kanak berusia 5 hingga 11 tahun pada suku keempat
Kementerian Kesihatan sudah menerima cadangan yang dikemukakan Jawatankuasa Pakar mengenai Vaksinasi COVID-19 (EC19V).