The BBC has reported that preliminary analysis shows the first coronavirus vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people from getting COVID-19. Developers Pfizer and BioNTech have described it as “great day for science and humanity”.
The vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been raised. Therefore, emergency approval is being sought to use the vaccine by the end of November.
Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine uses a completely experimental approach that involves injecting part of the virus’s genetic code in order to train the immune system.
Pfizer believes it will be able to supply 50 million doses by the end of this year, and around 1.3 billion by the end of 2021, with the UK already ordering 30 million doses.
Logistical challenges may well be ahead as the vaccine will need to be kept at -80c.
Dr Albert Bourla, the chairman of Pfizer, commented: “We are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis.”
