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“Today is a great day for science and humanity,” Albert Bourla, president and CEO of Pfizer, the American pharmaceutical company, said in a statement on Monday quoted by Reuters, which, together with the German company BioNTech, has spent the last few months to develop and test an experimental vaccine for Covid-19.
According to Bourla, the most recent results revealed that the vaccine, which is being tested in more than 150 sites with the help of 42,000 volunteers, is 90% effective. The consortium, which is the first to present the results of large-scale trials to obtain the vaccine, hopes to obtain a special authorization later this month, given the urgency, on the part of the US authorities, to begin distributing the vaccine – in a first phase only for people between 16 and 85 years old.
“We have reached this critical milestone in our vaccine development program, at a time when the world needs it most, with infection rates setting new records, hospitals approaching overcapacity and economies struggling to reopen.” . added the Greek to the statement sent to journalists.
He joined as a veterinarian, 25 years later he became CEO. Albert Bourla is the Greek millionaire who can win the race for the Covid-19 vaccine
This figure – 90% -, explains Reuters, is still provisional and is part of a larger study, which should only be completed in early December (and only then will it be published in specialized journals and peer reviewed). According to the pharmaceutical company, the percentage of effectiveness revealed this Monday the results of the analysis carried out after 94 participants in clinical trials fell ill with Covid-19 – Pfizer did not advance a number, but the news agency did the calculations and explained that there must be fewer than 8 people out of these 94 to receive the vaccine, all others will have received a placebo. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to approve a vaccine against the new coronavirus, has a minimum limit of 50% effectiveness rate.
Still, to consolidate the certainty that the vaccine works, the consortium hopes to have at least 70 more infected participants (out of 164), which, given the increasing rate of infections in the United States, explained Bill Gruber in an interview. , one of Pfizer’s vice presidents for vaccines, is expected to take place in early December. “I am almost ecstatic, this is a great day for public health and for the possibility that we all get out of the situation we are in,” he said excitedly.
To save time, Pfizer and BioNTech, like the other major consortia in the race for the Covid-19 vaccine, have already started producing the vaccine that is still in testing: Astrazeneca, which is developing the so-called Oxford vaccine, has finished to announce 3 days that it expects to have results on the effectiveness of the drug by the end of the year and that as of January, if it proves it, it will be possible to begin distributing several million doses.
According to those in charge of Pfizer, by the end of this year the company will have the capacity to deliver 50 million doses of the vaccine, two doses, which will allow inoculating 25 million people. Through 2021, the pharmaceutical company expects to produce 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine. The United States alone ordered 100 million head; The European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan have also obtained orders.
Since the announcement was made Monday morning, the drugmaker’s shares have risen 12% and German biotech stocks 24%. reported meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal.
Donald Trump has already celebrated it on Twitter, with an emphasis on the impact that the news is having on the stock markets. The US president wrote in capital letters that “the stock market is growing a lot” and that “the vaccine will arrive soon.
“What great news!” Said Trump, at a time when he is still awaiting the final count of the elections that he lost to Biden and that the US president disputes in court.
THE LARGE STOCK MARKET AND VACCINES SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SO GOOD NEWS!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2020
Joe Biden also says it’s an “excellent” novelty, but warns that the pandemic will still last. In statements cited by the Washington Post, the president-elect of the United States warns, however, that “the battle against Covid-19 is still months away” and urges Americans to continue wearing masks and protect themselves from the new coronavirus. .
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