Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said Monday an early examination of data from its coronavirus vaccine shows it is more than 90 percent effective.
Pfizer’s presumed interim analysis looked at the first 94 cases of the coronavirus among the 43,000-plus volunteers who got either two doses of the vaccine or a placebo. The analysis revealed that fewer than 10 percent of infections were in participants who had been given the vaccine.
More than 90 percent of the cases were in people who had been given a placebo, CNN reported.
Pfizer’s vaccine, made in conjunction with German partner BioNTech, had an efficacy rate higher than 90 percent at seven days after the second dose, meaning protection is achieved 28 days after a person becomes vaccinated. The vaccine will require two doses.
The Food and Drug Administration has said it expects at least 50 percent efficacy from any COVID-19 vaccine.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla exulted in his company’s vaccine success rate, calling it a medical milestone.
“Emotions are very high,” Bourla said, CNN reported. “You can imagine how I felt when I heard the results yesterday at 2 p.m. I think that likely, based on impact, this will be the greatest medical advance in the last 100 years.”