The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID Vaccine is 90 Per Cent Effective
Australia has 10 million COVID-19 jabs on the way
People who are eagerly waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine (most of us), have finally gotten something to be chuffed about. Early trials of this COVID vaccine has demonstrated 90% effectiveness in preventing the infection as per a preliminary report. It is great news for Aussies as our government has already pre-ordered 10 million doses of the vaccine.
The details of the effectiveness of the trial were shared by Pfizer, a company that is developing the COVID-19 vaccine with BioNTech. It says that the vaccine has proven good in keeping people away from the virus, and there were no serious health or safety concerns yet. No details were shared the potential long-term impacts of the vaccine or for how long it can help people avoid the virus.
What this COVID vaccine news mean for Australians?
On Thursday, Aussie Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the government had inked a deal with BioNTech and Pfizer which guarantees that the Australians will get access to the COVID-19 vaccine if it is proven effective and safe.
In addition to this, Morrison’s government has also worked out pre-emptive deals with three other COVID-19 vaccine initiatives, each of which is hoping to help humanity beat the deadly virus.
The Pfizer trial is expected to last for a while, and the company will only conclude the study if 164 people contract the virus out of a huge sample size of 44,000 volunteers. The 90% efficacy rate of COVID-19 vaccine by the company is higher than the standard flu vaccine.
Talking about the development, the CEO and Chairman of Pfizer, Dr Albert Bourla, said “Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent Covid-19. 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 over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen.”
The news on COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer is the second-best news for the Aussies in the last few days. The first was the reopening of NSW-Vic border.
