When it comes to the coronavirus — it may not seem like it this year, but we’ve made plenty of breakthroughs. And now we have two promising vaccines within weeks of each other with more to come. But let’s focus on Pfizer & BioNtech.
- Pfizer are now saying their Vaccine is 95% effective. To put that in perspective, that’s about as effective as the kids measles vaccine. The flu vaccine is around 40-60% effective and the hope was that the COVID vaccine would be around 50-70% effective, so this is clearly great news! More remarkable still, if you consider that normal vaccine development usually takes decades.
- Pfizer’s new drug is a bit of prima donna, you need to get it in two shots, three weeks apart and keep it very cold — which sounds like no big deal — but that will have big global implications on how far it can be shipped.
- It works by injecting genetic elements of the virus into the body via messenger RNA, which acts like a carrier to teach the body to block the virus if it shows up. And the hope is that by using messenger RNA, scientists can keep creating new vaccines if the virus mutates.
- What are the side-effects? Not many! Maybe some fatigue, chills and a little fever. Is that all? Not bad eh?
- Key unanswered questions are: Does it prevent more severe cases of COVID-19? How does it work with more vulnerable seniors, for instance? And will it stop you spreading the virus even if you’ve been immunzied? And how long will it protect you for?
Moderna’s new vaccine, which is also 95% effective can be stored in far easier fashion. Along with other vaccines in late-stage trials that are soon to arrive, all of our futures are suddenly looking a lot better and a lot brighter!
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the announcement from Pfizer that the vaccine now appears to be 95% effective. (November 18, 2020)