Pfizer coronavirus vaccine shows promising results
News of breakthrough comes as U.S. cases surpass 10-million - NBC's Sarah Dallof reports
NEW YORK, N.Y (KYMA, KECY/NBC News) - Pfizer Monday released some of the most encouraging news yet in the fight against coronavirus.
"It is a great day for science, it is a great day for humanity." said Albert Bourla, the drug giant's CEO.
Pfizer announcing its vaccine is more than 90% effective at preventing infection.
The data comes from phase three trials, involving nearly 44,000 participants.
"I was expecting a vaccine might be 70-percent effective if we were lucky. So this is better than I was expecting." said Dr. Ashish Jha, the Dean of Brown University's School of Public Health.
If the data holds up, the effectiveness would be on par with childhood vaccines like the measles and chickenpox.
It comes as President-Elect Joe Biden names his coronavirus transition team.
"I will spare no effort to turn this pandemic around." said Biden.
Biden's team is putting together a blueprint to ramp up PP# production, protect vulnerable populations, operate schools and businesses safely, and eventually, distribute a vaccine.
On Monday, he urged Americans to do their part.
"It doesn't matter your party, your point of view, we can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months." said the President-Elect
Pfizer has an agreement with the federal government to produce 100-million doses of its vaccine. However, they won't all be available immediately upon FDA approval.
"Demand will be much higher than anything we can produce, we are also looking right now to see if there are other ways, thinking out of the box to increase even further." said Pfizer's CEO.
The race is entering a critical stretch, which cases topping 10-million and winter fast approaching.
Pfizer says it will apply for an emergency use authorization from the FDA soon after it has two months of data collected. That likely won't happen until later this month.
The vaccine does come with some logistical challenges. It must be stored a very low temperatures, and it requires two doses to be effective.
