The government has ordered 40 million doses of a new Covid vaccine being produced by pharmaceutical firms Pfizer – which has a base in Sandwich – and /BioNTech.
The vaccine has been tested on over 40,000 volunteers and interim results suggest it is proving 90 per cent effective at protecting people against the virus. But those findings need to be peer-reviewed.
The tests were split between vaccinated individuals and those who received a placebo and results indicated a vaccine efficacy rate above 90%, at 7 days after the second dose.
This means that protection is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the vaccination, which consists of a two-dose schedule.
The Phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine began on July 27 and has enrolled 43,538 participants to date, 38,955 of whom have received a second dose of the vaccine candidate as of November 8.
At a public briefing yesterday (November 9) Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “If the Pfizer vaccine passes all the rigorous safety checks and is proved to be effective then we will begin a UK-wide NHS led programme of vaccine distribution.
“We will decide the order in which people are offered the vaccination taking account of recommendations from a group of scientific experts, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
“They’re looking at a range of factors, including the different characteristics of different types of vaccines, to work out the most effective way to protect as many people as possible and save as many lives as we can.
“But, I must stress, these are very, very early days.”
He added: “We absolutely cannot rely on this as a solution. The biggest mistake we could make now would be to slacken our resolve at such a critical moment.”
Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO, said: “The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19.
“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen.
“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. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”
“The first interim analysis of our global Phase 3 study provides evidence that a vaccine may effectively prevent COVID-19. This is a victory for innovation, science and a global collaborative effort,” said Prof. Ugur Sahin, BioNTech co-founder and CEO.
“When we embarked on this journey 10 months ago this is what we aspired to achieve. Especially today, while we are all in the midst of a second wave and many of us in lockdown, we appreciate even more how important this milestone is on our path towards ending this pandemic and for all of us to regain a sense of normality. We will continue to collect further data as the trial continues to enroll for a final analysis planned when a total of 164 confirmed COVID-19 cases have accrued.
The Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine is one of 11 currently in the final stages of testing.
The companies now plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of November – and a limited number of people may get the vaccine this year.
Military and NHS staff are on standby to roll out a Covid-19 vaccine across the UK.
Deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said he was “hopeful” there would be “some vaccine by Christmas”.
It is a new type of vaccine called an mRNA vaccine and uses a fragment of the virus’ genetic code. This starts making part of the virus inside the body, which the immune system recognises as foreign and starts to attack. There are no mRNA vaccines that have been approved for use in people.
This is as pointless as the new so called lock down ..again governments are controlling our freedoms and will
At some point force us all to vacate a virus into us it’s called Brainwashing and false numbers and made up charts
Complete rubbish P.
It’s a chance to get society back to normal and protect the vulnerable.
Great work by scientists and should be applauded.
You do realise that as we stand currently less than half the population will even be offered the vaccine? The idea will be to give it to those most vulnerable to catch it & thus slow the spread down significantly-NHS staff, care home staff, the elderly, people with serious underlying health issues, police officers etc.
It has been stated by the lady in charge of UK vaccines that this is not an under 60’s vaccine period, the logic being that younger people while highly likely to catch it due to their lifestyles are far less likely to die or suffer hugely serious from it-the big problem is they then spread it to those it does.
My bigger concern is as stated at the start of this article the lack of peer review which it seems will be bypassed in the name of expediency. As has been shown in the past pharma companies regularly suppress or manipulate trial data that is unfavourable to them-even including deaths to get their product to market & to make money. So in reality the big danger is not us being held down & injected, but that 40 odd percent that will be offered this effectively being further guinea pigs.
Nonsense!
Complete rubbish P
It’s a chance to get society back to normal and protect the vulnerable.
Great work by scientists and should be applauded.
What planet are you living on P? Controlling our freedoms and wills? What about the thousands who have died? And if you don’t believe this, then I suggest you talk to some of the thousands of NHS workers who are fighting the battle every day. Our freedoms are nothing compared to someone’s life. You have serious issues if you believe what you have written. Or is your comment just to see what sort of reactive comments you get from others?
Well, people need to read all the evidence gathering that this so called pandemic is fake. What has happened to the numbers who are dying from Flu this year? They are still dying from it but it is being recorded as Covid-19 now.
Don’t believe all you are being fed by the BBC. Search for the truth yourselves.
People dying of flu does not prove the Covid pandemic fake-most likely there is a lack of autopsies being performed on the elderly-especially those that tested positive for Covid. Covid & Flu might have been the reason for many deaths-as fighting off one is hard enough, let alone both. It is highly likely that many died of the flu, but Covid would have claimed their life anyway. Since the symptoms caused by both are highly similar it would be practically impossible to contribute just one of them to people who have both-so it really is irrelevant.
You are quite right Steve. Numerous medical experts are questioning the lockdown approach and data. There is a great deal of information being documented now. People who just throw out the odd insult clearly have not researched very well and have succumbed to the hypnosis. And are not very articulate either.
I have serious concerns for the covidiot nutters who are swamping the internet with their ludicrous tales.
What on earth will they do for recreation when this pandemic is sorted (as it will be sooner or later)? Argue that the world is flat and the moon made of cheese?
Basically whatever Alex Jones/Infowars, David Icke, Donald Trump, Fox News etc come up with next
I presume that’s comedy?
Icke and Trump aren’t funny. Just absurd.
Why on earth would governments invent a pandemic to get control over us? To what end?
Just last week, one of the dodgiest politicians in the Western world, Donald Trump, LOST his position in part because he failed to take the disease seriously. How could he have been involved in a nefarious scheme to con us all when he has become a major loser because of it?
Here in the UK, Boris Johnson breezed into total power with nearly 44% of the voters and thought he had a great future as Brexit Prime Minister. But now, because of Covid 19, he is struggling to impress us, has lost public support to Kier Starmer whose main policy seems to be to agree with Boris all the time, and may even get the boot from his own MPs.
So who would invent this awful illness and how would they benefit?
I just hope that the vaccines work! And soon!
The MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) is currently putting out a tender: “The MHRA urgently seeks an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software tool to process the expected high volume of Covid-19 vaccine Adverse Vaccine Reaction (ADRs) and ensure that no details from the ADRs’ reaction text are missed.” In 2007 the Guardian reported that the Nigerian government was suing Pfizer for 7 billion dollars over illegal testing on children. Who on earth would want a vaccine rushed to the market, with big pharma asking governments to waive their legal liability for any vaccine damage caused. This is in no way a magic bullet. Maintaining a good immune system naturally is far more effective. While negativity and fear makes people ill. As do numerous side effects of medication.
And you have proof of this tender? Also you believed something the Guardian reported on in 2007, so what was the outcome of this lawsuit? If the Nigerian won then you may have some creditability however if they didn’t then your comment is null and void (I can see your next argument “they paid the government off”
Having a good immune system helps, but demonstrably isn’t enough. That’s why in the UK alone there have been around 45000 premature deaths. If our immune systems were up to it, there would have been far fewer.
Most of the movers and shakers in most of the countries of the world are striving to get an anti covid vaccine available, at huge expense both to governments and pharma (an ineffective vaccine earns no money, but costs £M to develop)
I dont understand why so many people in high places would spend such a lot of effort, time, money in pursuit of a cure for something that is as harmless (some say) as a bit if flu.