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I want to take a moment to explain the big vaccine news today. #Pfizer is reporting early data showing their vaccine is “more than 90%” effective in preventing COVID-19. I spoke with #Pfizer’s CEO @AlbertBourla today, as the news broke early this morning (1/10)
Remember – this is an early read from a group of independent experts, not #Pfizer itself. Who are these experts? They’re known as the data safety monitoring board. (2/10) https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/10/01/data-and-safety-monitoring-board-dsmb-coronavirus-vaccine-gupta-newday-vpx.cnn
What we know: out of nearly 44,000 trial participants, 94 were infected during the trial period. Here is the key finding: more than 90% of the infected cases occurred in the placebo group. Fewer than 10% of the infections occurred among those who had received the vaccine. (3/10)
This is good news - but there are still more questions. Consider this: we already know over 80% of people recover from #COVID19 with mild or no symptoms. A reasonable question: what is the vaccine’s effectiveness at preventing serious disease? I asked @AlbertBourla myself. (4/10)
The other big question – for how long will the vaccine be effective? #Pfizer’s CEO thinks that it’s likely this is something we will have to get periodically – and, interestingly, he made the point that an mRNA vaccine can be more easily modified if necessary. (5/10)
#Pfizer is optimistic they can submit data to the FDA for EUA, probably by early Dec. Remember: the FDA is requiring companies present safety data for at least 2 months after the last dose. For Pfizer that window would be the third week of Nov. (6/10) https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/06/health/fda-covid-vaccine-safety-data-bn/index.html
The vaccine needs to be stored at -103 F. There are football fields of fridges in cities across the country and the world. Even after authorization, there is still the enormous task of manufacturing and distributing a vaccine. Listen to how #Pfizer plans on tackling that. (7/10)
There’s been a lot of concern about how politicized the vaccine race has become. And rightfully so as it became a talking point in the presidential elections. Here’s what CEO @AlbertBourla had to say about that. (8/10)
Today is a good day, but as we have said all along – a vaccine isn’t a silver bullet and it will take a while to become available to the general public. But, with the vaccine likely looming and a possible end in sight, hopefully we are inspired to use the tools we have. (9/10)
The tools that we have in our hands: masks and social distancing. If we do that for a while longer, we will save hundreds of thousands of lives and get through this – together. (10/10)
