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The @BioNTech_Group & @pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is highly effective after just one dose and can be stored in ordinary freezers, according to new data. Via @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/single-dose-of-pfizer-vaccine-is-85-effective-israeli-study-shows-11613723218?reflink=desktopwebshare_twitter via @WSJ
The BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine generates robust immunity after one dose & can be stored in ordinary freezers instead of at ultracold temperatures: strong arguments for delaying the 2 dose like Britain & substantial implications on vaccine policy/distribution https://www.wsj.com/articles/single-dose-of-pfizer-vaccine-is-85-effective-israeli-study-shows-11613723218?st=yj2qa53bswdtp0h&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
“This groundbreaking research supports the British government’s decision to begin inoculating its citizens with a single dose of the vaccine,” said Arnon Afek, Sheba’s deputy director general https://www.wsj.com/articles/single-dose-of-pfizer-vaccine-is-85-effective-israeli-study-shows-11613723218?st=yj2qa53bswdtp0h&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
The data also amount to strong evidence that the vaccine is highly effective against the British mutation that has forced European governments to prolong their lockdowns https://www.wsj.com/articles/single-dose-of-pfizer-vaccine-is-85-effective-israeli-study-shows-11613723218?st=yj2qa53bswdtp0h&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
This is the study showing a single shot of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine is 85% effective in preventing symptomatic disease 15 to 28 days after being administered https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00448-7/fulltext
Separate study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine has an efficacy of 92.6% even before the 2nd dose: "benefits...could be maximized by deferring 2nd doses until all priority group members are offered at least one" https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2036242
Preliminary data also suggest that the other widely used vaccine in the U.K. developed by AstraZeneca PLC and the University of Oxford could have a substantial effect after a first dose https://www.wsj.com/articles/oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine-data-show-effectiveness-with-spread-out-doses-11612301541?st=d7ckf6hav0sb5pt&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Today @pfizer & @BioNTech_Group asked the @US_FDA to enable the vaccine to be stored at -25°C to -15°C (-13°F to 5°F) instead of below -70°C. This would remove the need for ultra-cold chain handling; normal freezers would do @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/single-dose-of-pfizer-vaccine-is-85-effective-israeli-study-shows-11613723218?st=yj2qa53bswdtp0h&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
It's interesting how scientists outside immunology/vaccinology pushed for q legalistic approach of strictly following the two-shot trial protocol. While actual experts endorsed delaying the second dose, based on science: https://www.immunology.org/policy-and-public-affairs/briefings-and-position-statements/COVID-19-vaccine-dosing-schedules
Prof. Uğur Şahin, who invented the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, told me in December that next-generation Covid-19 shots could consist of one dose. Already the trial showed that the vaccine generated immunity ~12 after the first shot. https://www.wsj.com/articles/single-dose-of-pfizer-vaccine-is-85-effective-israeli-study-shows-11613723218?st=yj2qa53bswdtp0h&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
*12 days
