Pfizer’s Successful COVID Vaccine Might Be Available Next Month
But the vaccine’s complex and super-cold storage requirements — it needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below — are an obstacle for even the most sophisticated hospitals in the United States and may affect when and where it is available in rural or poor areas.
The Washington Post:
Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine Could Be Cleared By Mid-December Following Release Of Data Showing It Is More Than 90 Percent Effective
The news Monday that Pfizer’s experimental coronavirus vaccine is more than 90 percent effective sharply increased prospects that federal regulators will authorize the vaccine on an emergency basis as early as mid-December, and that the first shots will be administered before the end of the year or early next year. The findings, announced by drug giant Pfizer and German biotechnology firm BioNTech, provided much-needed hope for a nation battered by surging virus cases, a stumbling economy and a bitterly fought presidential campaign. It augers well for other vaccines and could accelerate the timetable for reining in the pandemic, said scientists, who cautioned that any successful vaccine will still face obstacles, notably distribution to hundreds of millions of people. (McGinley, Sun and Johnson, 11/9)
NPR:
A COVID-19 Vaccine Could Begin Deployment In U.S. In December, If FDA-Approved
A top U.S. Army general who is co-leading the federal COVID-19 vaccine initiative anticipates that the first of millions of Americans could start receiving COVID-19 vaccines as soon as next month. "I think a safe and effective vaccine will be available initially in December," Gen. Gustave Perna told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly in an interview Monday. If the Food and Drug Administration authorizes a vaccine by then, "10 to 30 million doses of vaccine will be available that we can start distributing." (Huang, 11/9)
Many health experts say Pfizer's vaccine shows incredible promise —
San Francisco Chronicle:
Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine Shows Remarkable Promise, But Experts Advise Public To ‘Put This In Perspective’
As news of Pfizer’s promising vaccine results rippled across the globe, scientists and public health officials warned that a true solution to the coronavirus pandemic is many months away and that people should continue wearing masks and social distancing. Pfizer said Monday its coronavirus vaccine is 90% effective at preventing COVID-19, sparking enthusiasm that a positive development in the global pandemic may be on the horizon. The findings are based on the first interim analysis of Phase 3 clinical trial data by an independent board, Pfizer said. The results were announced in a news release and have not been peer reviewed. (Ho, 11/9)
Boston Globe:
Is Pfizer’s Vaccine A ‘Magic Bullet?’ Scientists Warn Masks, Distancing May Last Well Into 2021
A nation in the grip of a raging pandemic got a glimmer of hope Monday with the drug maker Pfizer’s announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine showed early success among a small number of people in its drug trial. But with so many unknowns about the first batch of coronavirus vaccines still in development, vaccine and infectious disease experts warn that the public should be prepared to stay the course with 2020-style precautions for months to come, and perhaps longer. Masks and social distancing deep into 2021 are still likely, they say. (Lazar, 11/9)
Stat:
4 Reasons For Encouragement Based On Pfizer's Covid-19 Vaccine Results
The world has been waiting for good news on Covid-19 vaccines. Monday it got a bunch of it. A preliminary analysis of the race frontrunner, Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine, suggested it was 90% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid disease. While these are early findings — the trial is still ongoing — they suggest the vaccine could be very protective. (Branswell, 11/9)
CNN:
Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine News Bodes Well For Other Covid-19 Vaccines, Experts Say
News that Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine strongly protects people against infection is good news for other vaccines being developed against the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday. Pfizer said its candidate vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing infection in volunteers. It uses a never-before-approved technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA, to produce an immune response in people who are vaccinated. (Fox, 11/9)
But distribution of Pfizer's vaccine will be a major concern —
The Wall Street Journal:
Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine’s Next Big Challenge: Giving It To Enough People
With Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine on track to be authorized as early as next month, Western governments are facing an enormous logistical challenge: getting enough people shots of new vaccines. While previous vaccination programs have spread over years and focused on specific demographics such as children or the elderly, governments are hoping to do something they never have done before and inoculate a majority of the population in a matter of months. (Colchester and Hinshaw, 11/10)
Reuters:
Why Pfizer’s Ultra-Cold COVID-19 Vaccine Will Not Be At The Local Pharmacy Any Time Soon
The vaccine’s complex and super-cold storage requirements are an obstacle for even the most sophisticated hospitals in the United States and may impact when and where it is available in rural areas or poor countries where resources are tight. The main issue is that the vaccine, which is based on a novel technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below. (O'Donnell, 11/9)
Also —
Stat:
Why The Pharma Industry Got Lucky With Pfizer — For Now
The news read like Heritage Foundation fan fiction. Pfizer, a 171-year-old paragon of American industry, was the first to generate truly promising data on a Covid-19 vaccine. And like a pharmaceutical John Henry — or John Galt — the company did it without accepting a single dollar from the federal government and its Operation Warp Speed. (Garde, 11/9)
AP:
Testing Timeline: What’s Ahead For COVID-19 Vaccines
Pfizer’s surprising news that its COVID-19 vaccine might offer more protection than anticipated — an announcement right after a fraught U.S. presidential election campaign — is raising questions about exactly how the different shots will make it to market. Pfizer Inc. and the maker of the other leading U.S. vaccine candidate, Moderna Inc., have been cautioning for weeks that the earliest they could seek regulatory approval for wider use of their shots would be late November. In Britain, AstraZeneca recently said it hoped to prove its own vaccine was effective by year’s end. (Neergaard, 11/10)
