Less than a Week After the Election, Pfizer Claims COVID-19 Vaccine is Looking 90% Effective
Posted on 11/09/2020
Less than a week after the U.S. presidential election, Pfizer Inc. claims early results from its coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine suggest the shots may be 90% effective at preventing COVID-19. This lofty claim would put Pfizer back on track to apply later this month for emergency-use approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Trump administration pushed out Operation Warp Speed to find vaccines and remedies for COVID-19. U.S. President Donald Trump, who had suggested repeatedly during the presidential campaign that a vaccine could be ready by Election Day, tweeted: “STOCK MARKET UP BIG, VACCINE COMING SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SUCH GREAT NEWS!” Scientists say that flu vaccines are around 40% effective, since tracking it in 2003, and requires annual immunizations.
The shots were manufactured by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE. Singapore’s Temasek Holdings is an investor in BioNTech.
This revelation is not certain that a vaccine is imminent. An independent data monitoring board analyzed 94 infections recorded so far in a study that has enrolled nearly 44,000 people in the U.S. and five other countries. Some participants received the experimental vaccine, while others got the placebo shots. A provable vaccine would fundamentally change the direction of this crisis by March 2021.
