They were hoping for 60%, so this is extra-welcome news:
Pfizer and BioNTech announced Monday their coronavirus vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 among those without evidence of prior infection, hailing the development as “a great day for science and humanity.”
“I think we can see light at the end of the tunnel,” Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla told CNBC’s Meg Tirell on “Squawk Box.” “I believe this is likely the most significant medical advance in the last 100 years, if you count the impact this will have in public health, global economy.”
Okay, that’s hyperbole – the most significant medical advance in the last hundred years was the elimination of smallpox and/or the invention of penicillin – but when you’re on the verge of bringing out an effective pandemic vaccine within two weeks you get to peacock a little. They’re still waiting to see if 50% of the folks that took it are OK two months after taking it before they ask the FDA to expedite distribution, but things are looking good. The phrase ‘yeoman effort’ is even appropriate here.
For that matter: kudos to the government, from President Trump on down, for their work helping to get multiple vaccines up and well on the way to release. This is not an easy virus to vaccinate against (there’s still a real chance that Pfizer’s vaccine will not make it past the last safety checkpoint, in fact). But we are in a remarkably good place right now – and, as I understand it, cracking the code on this virus will pay dividends when it comes to other diseases. Well done.
*sigh* right on schedule…..
My wife, who used to be a medicinal chemist, is a little skeptical of the 90% claim. While the study was large, the actual number of people who got the virus was less than a hundred. So there may still be fairly large error bars. Still, I’m not a good enough statistician to critique it, and large error bars around 90 is better than large error bars around 60.
I’m torn ..
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On one paw, given the number of oldsters I’m around, these days, I really *really* should get vaccinated as early as possible .. I do *NOT* want to be a “super-spreader”.
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On the other paw, I know how bad things can go when rushed, and I do not need to add another dangling medical participle to my life
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“Everything’s fine with me, except [ blank ] …”
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So .. I’m gonna relax and see how the essential workers pan out.
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Mew
Oh, and kudos to Pfizer on winning an important race.
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Not up there with Salk, maybe, but .. a much more complicated virus to get our immune systems to do *long lasting* immunity ..
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Mew