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Pfizer Vaccine

Pfizer Vaccine: A Successful Vaccine Candidate for COVID-19
    
    As the last few months of 2020 come to an end, many individuals are hoping to leave behind the misfortunes of the COVID-19 pandemic as they enter the new year. This of course, is only possible with an effective vaccine that can prevent coronavirus infection. While many vaccines, drugs and treatments are undergoing clinical trials and various tests, there is currently no available vaccine for public use. (See Drugs/Vaccines/Treatment for more information). But things are starting to look up. On November 9, 2020, a drug company by the name of Pfizer, released promising results from a coronavirus vaccine phase III study. While it's likely that this vaccine may not be approved for public use within the next few months, the positive outcomes from the Pfizer trials provide people with good news and hope in the midst of these troubling times.

    Before continuing to read this post, I would suggest taking a look at What you Need to Know About the COVID-19 Vaccine  for more information about how a vaccine works and the steps required before a vaccine can be marketed and available for public use. 

    Results from Phase III Clinical Testing

    New York City-based drug company Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, located in Mainz, Germany, co-developed a messenger RNA vaccine against COVID-19. After showing positive results in early stage clinical trials, the vaccine was moved to clinical testing in a large number of human subjects. The clinical testing study began on July 27, 2020 and enrolled a total 43,538 participants who had no evidence of prior COVID-19 infection. Out of those enrolled, patients were randomized into 2 groups where they either received a saline/placebo solution or the vaccine (number of cases from each group were not indicated in the release statement). Analysis evaluated a total of 94 coronavirus cases and the vaccine was found to be over 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without previous infection of the virus. However, researchers plan to continue the trial until a total of 164 COVID-19 cases are detected so there may be a change in the vaccine's efficacy outcomes. (Nov. 18, 2020 Pfizer update: the vaccine is "95% effective against COVID-19 beginning 28 days after the first dose")

Study Implications

    Although the overall effectiveness of the vaccine may decrease by the end of the trial, scientists predict that the effectiveness will stay well over 50%. This is a threshold set by the Food and Drug Administration for approving a coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. Pfizer plans to seek emergency use authorization for their vaccine around the third week of November and many scientists have high hopes of approval.
    While there are still many questions about the Pfizer vaccine including whether or not the vaccine can prevent a wide range of coronavirus cases (mild-severe symptoms),  how effective the vaccine is in different demographic groups, and most importantly, how long the effectiveness lasts, the clinical testing study provides promising evidence of the Pfizer vaccine's ability to prevent COVID-19 infection. According to Pfizer chairman and CEO, Albert Bourla, "we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis." Although Pfizer is the first company to announce interim analysis results from their phase III study, other companies including Moderna are also developing similar mRNA coronavirus vaccines which yield encouraging results. Nonetheless, the public should continue following public health measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 as it may be months before the vaccine is approved for public use.

Sources

1. “Pfizer and BioNTech Announce Vaccine Candidate Against COVID-19 Achieved Success in First Interim Analysis from Phase 3 Study.” Pfizer, www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-vaccine-candidate-against.

2. Callaway, Ewen. “What Pfizer's Landmark COVID Vaccine Results Mean for the Pandemic.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 9 Nov. 2020, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03166-8. 

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