American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer has announced a breakthrough in its search for a vaccine for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Early results from ongoing trials by Pfizer and German company BioNTech indicates that the vaccine is 90% effective.
This comes after the Phase III trials by both companies showed that the vaccine was effective in preventing Coronavirus infections.
In a joint statement, Pfizer and BioNTech said no serious safety concern connected with the vaccine was found.
The Chief Executive Officer of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, expressed hope that the immunizing effects will last more than a year.
“We should be more optimistic that the immunization effect can last for at least a year,” he told Reuters, as quoted by DW.
Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla also added that the vaccine has the ability to prevent the disease.
“The first set of results from our Phase III COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” he stated.
Pfizer has, however, cautioned that although the signs are encouraging, the vaccine was unlikely to be available before the end of the year.
President-Elect of the US, Joe Biden, welcomed the news of a Coronavirus vaccine with 90% effectiveness.
In a statement, Biden said: “Today’s news is great news, but it doesn’t change that fact. Today’s announcement promises the chance to change that next year, but the tasks before us now remain the same.”
Meanwhile, outgoing US President Donald Trump also took to Twitter to express his delight at a potential COVID-19 vaccine hitting the market.
An infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, William Schaffner, described the 90% effectiveness of the vaccine as very impressive.
“The efficacy data are really impressive. This is better than most of us anticipated,” Schaffner said.
“I would have been delighted with efficacy of 70% or 75%. 90% is very impressive for any vaccine. The study isn’t completed yet, but nonetheless the data look very solid.”
This comes as good news to the rest of the world and in Ghana, where active cases have once again hit the thousands.
As of today, Tuesday, November 10, 2020, Ghana’s active COVID-19 cases stand at 1,139 with 320 deaths.
