Pfizer Inc’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective based on initial trial results, the drugmaker said on Monday, a major victory in the war against a virus that has killed over a million people and battered the world’s economy.
Scientists, public health officials and investors welcomed the first successful interim data from a large-scale clinical test as a watershed moment that could help turn the tide of the pandemic if the full trial results pan out. However, mass roll-outs, which needs regulatory approval, will not happen this year and several vaccines are seen as necessary to meet massive global needs.
Pfizer and BioNTech need to get regulators to sign off on the shot before it can start shipping vaccines to those considered most in need by governments. The vaccine, which is based on a novel technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, also needs to be kept at supercooled temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below.