Coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNtech appears to protect 94 percent of adults over 65 years old. Data released from ongoing phase 3 trial suggest that it works equally well in people of all ages and ethnicity.
The company says it will now apply for authorization for emergency use in the United States. The findings are based on two doses given to more than 41,000 people around the world.
REPORT AFRIQUE had earlier published a report that preliminary data showed that the vaccine offered 90 percent protection against COVID-19 and was strongly effective, exceeding expectations with results and there were no safety concerns as the development will usher in some relief in the face of the global pandemic.
IAN JONES, a professor of virology from the University of Reading noted that in his view, the Biontech and Pfizer vaccine is probably the most well focused of the vaccines because it uses only the receptor binding domain.
He went further to state that the vaccine uses a particular fragment of the spike protein which means that all the antibodies that are generated are going to be neutralizing.
Jones mentioned that the particular data that is interesting about this development is that because the RNA vaccines are completely new, the safety data raised some concerns about the amount of RNA that was used in the early experiments from Moderna which was very high. This called for some concerns which made them to reduce the dose and the adverse events reported by the Pfizer’s trial.
He said going forward, the data from the RNA vaccines heralds the new form of vaccines that is going to become predominant.
In the meantime, the US regulators with the food and drug administration have approved the country’s first at-home test kit that can detect the corona virus in only 30 minutes. The self administered test kit is an all-in-one kit that is not expected to be widely available until the spring.
The price forecast says the test kit will only cost around 50 dollars and it will only be available by prescription and only for those diagnosed with Covid-like symptoms.
ALEX AZAR, the US health secretary has praised the development noting that it is another tool in America’s expanding arsenal of Covid-19 testing options.
Experts have said that this positive news from Pfizer as the vaccine would probably be used before the end of the year.
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