EditorialVaccine breakthrough brings hope Covid-19 battle can be won
- We now seem a step closer and if all goes well, with global cooperation, we can sooner rather than later end this crisis
A vaccine to protect against Covid-19 would seem near at hand. One among the nine in the final stages of testing, being developed by America’s Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, has created a stir, showing in reported interim results an efficacy rate of “above 90 per cent”.
This is encouraging for people eager to end the restrictions that have battered economies and put lives on hold. But it is not yet time for celebration.
There can be no guarantees as research is still being carried out, there are logistical challenges, and, for most of us, face masks and social distancing will remain the best way to ward off the disease for some time yet.
The results are partial, final, phase 3, tests are still under way and the analysis has yet to be peer reviewed. Much has yet to be learned, including how long those immunised will be protected, whether the vaccine is effective for all age groups and if it prevents infection.
Efficacy also is not the same as effectiveness, the former referring to clinical trials carried out under ideal and controlled conditions and the latter relating to performance under real-world circumstances over a long period of time.