Pfizer coronavirus vaccine more than 90 per cent effective, US drug maker says

Pfizer and German partner BioNTech have a US$1.95 billion contract with the US government to deliver 100 million vaccine doses beginning this year

Questions remain, including how long the vaccine will provide protection, but Pfizer expects to produce up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021

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Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drug makers to release successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:54pm, 9 Nov 2020Updated: 1:04pm, 25 Nov 2020

Pfizer said on Monday its experimental Covid-19 vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective, a major victory in the fight against a pandemic that has killed more than a million people, battered the world’s economy and upended daily life.

Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drug makers to release successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. The companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek US authorisation this month for emergency use of the vaccine.

The news provides hope that other Covid-19 vaccines currently in development are going after the right target and are a proof of concept that the disease can be halted with vaccination.

“Today is a great day for science and humanity,” Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and CEO, said.

We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development programme at a time when the world needs it most

Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and CEO

“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development programme at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing overcapacity and economies struggling to reopen.”