“Pfizer and BioNTech have said that their coronavirus vaccine may be more than 90 per cent effective, after the two pharmaceutical firms released early interim data for their experimental candidate. Preliminary analysis, conducted by independent data monitoring board, looked at 94 infections recorded so far in the vaccine’s large-scale trial, which has enrolled nearly 44,000 people in the US and five other countries” reports The Independent.
“Of those participants who were infected with Covid-19, it is currently unclear how many had received the vaccine. The study will continue with its phase 3 trial until 164 infections have been reported among volunteers – a figure that will give regulatory authorities a clearer idea of the vaccine’s efficacy. The two companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek US emergency use authorisation later this month. ‘Today is a great day for science and humanity,’ Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. ‘We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen.'”