Pfizer’s COVID Vaccine 95% Effective With No Major Side Effects; Transportation A Concern

London: Pharma major Pfizer on Wednesday reported that its COVID-19 vaccine is 95 per cent effective in phase 3 trials and would be applying for emergency US authorization within days.

The vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech SE, has shown no major side effects. It demonstrated 95 per cent efficacy beginning 28 days after the first dose, Pfizer said.

“Additionally, the safety milestone required by the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) has been achieved. To date, no serious safety concerns related to the vaccine candidate have been reported,” it said.

“Within days, we plan to submit a request to the US FDA for an EUA based on the totality of safety and efficacy data collected, as well as manufacturing data relating to the quality and consistency of the vaccine candidate,” it added.

The vaccine, however, will be required to be stored and transported at a temperature of minus 70 degrees, which is a huge challenge for countries like India.

NITI Aayog member (Health) and head of National Tast Force on COVID-19 Dr VK Paul has said that sufficient doses of the Pfizer vaccine, as required for the Indian population, will not be available.