UK ready for roll-out but Pfizer CEO 'not certain' if vaccine stops transmission

‘Days after getting back-to-back approvals from the United Kingdom (UK) and Bahrain health regulatory bodies for the emergency use of its coronavirus vaccine, Pfizer Inc CEO Albert Bourla is now "not certain" if the company-made vaccine to prevent the Covid-19 can actually stop the transmission of the infection. The basic.

‘...during an interview with NBC's Lestor Holt, Pfizer CEO, when asked whether a person can still transmit the virus after vaccination, said he was "not certain". "I think this is something that needs to be examined. We are not certain about that right now with what we know," he was quoted as saying.’

Read here (India Today, Dec 6, 2020)

As first Pfizer vaccine doses arrive in UK, officials tell doctors and nurses they won’t get priority

‘Priority will go to people over 80 years old and to nursing home caregivers, and even for those groups, demand could quickly outstrip supply in the early months, public health officials cautioned. The 800,000 doses Britain expects to get this month “could be the only batch we receive for some time,” warned Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers.’

Read here (Washington Post, Dec 4, 2020)

What you need to know about the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines

‘All three drugmakers have moved at record speed, and the first shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines could be given in the coming weeks. This article answers a list of questions that ordinary people need to know before they commit to the vaccinations.’

Read here (Washington Post, Nov 30, 2020)

Doctors say CDC should warn people the side effects from Covid vaccine shots won’t be ‘a walk in the park’

‘The CDC must be transparent about the side effects people may experience after getting their first shot of a coronavirus vaccine, doctors urged during a meeting Monday with CDC advisors. Dr. Sandra Fryhofer said that both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines require two doses and she worries whether her patients will come back for a second dose because of potentially unpleasant side effects after the first shot. Both companies acknowledged that their vaccines could induce side effects that are similar to symptoms associated with mild Covid-19, such as muscle pain, chills and headache.’

Read here (CNBC, Nov 23, 2020)

The end of the pandemic is now in sight

‘Both vaccines, from Moderna and from Pfizer’s collaboration with the smaller German company BioNTech, package slightly modified spike-protein mRNA inside a tiny protective bubble of fat. Human cells take up this bubble and simply follow the directions to make spike protein. The cells then display these spike proteins, presenting them as strange baubles to the immune system. Recognizing these viral proteins as foreign, the immune system begins building an arsenal to prepare for the moment a virus bearing this spike protein appears... This overall process mimics the steps of infection better than some traditional vaccines, which suggests that mRNA vaccines may provoke a better immune response for certain diseases...

‘All of this is how mRNA vaccines should work in theory. But no one on Earth, until last week, knew whether mRNA vaccines actually do work in humans for COVID-19. Although scientists had prototyped other mRNA vaccines before the pandemic, the technology was still new. None had been put through the paces of a large clinical trial. And the human immune system is notoriously complicated and unpredictable. Immunology is, as my colleague Ed Yong has written, where intuition goes to die. Vaccines can even make diseases more severe, rather than less. The data from these large clinical trials from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are the first, real-world proof that mRNA vaccines protect against disease as expected. The hope, in the many years when mRNA vaccine research flew under the radar, was that the technology would deliver results quickly in a pandemic. And now it has.’

Read here (The Atlantic, Nov 19, 2020)

Is the new Covid vaccine our way back to normality? - Video explainer by The Guardian

‘The news this week that the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was effective on more than 90% of trial recipients is of huge importance. The efficacy is significantly higher than hoped for and so far there appear to be no safety concerns.

‘The Guardian's health editor, Sarah Boseley, explains that, while this is a major breakthrough, there are still several hurdles to overcome, and restrictions, such as wearing masks, social distancing and remote working, must remain in place for the time being.’

View here (The Guardian, Nov 13, 2020)

Hopes of Covid vaccine for more than 1bn people by end of 2021

‘More than 1 billion people could be immunised against coronavirus by the end of next year with shots from the first two companies to reveal positive results, after the latest vaccine was shown to be nearly 95% effective in trials. The inclusion of high-risk and elderly people in the Moderna trial suggested the vaccine would protect those most vulnerable to the disease, said Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, who described the results as “tremendously exciting”.

‘Though it is more expensive, Moderna’s vaccine could potentially provide a major advantage over Pfizer’s, which requires ultracold freezing between -70C (-94F) and -80C from production facility to patient. Moderna said it had improved the shelf life and stability, meaning its vaccine can be stored for six months at -20C for shipping and long-term storage, and at standard refrigeration temperatures of 2C to 8C for 30 days.’

Read here (The Guardian, Nov 16, 2020)

How Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine could be cold comfort for some Asian nations

‘With tropical heat, remote island communities and a dearth of ultra-cold freezers, many Asian countries aren't betting on Pfizer's experimental vaccine solving their COVID-19 crisis any time soon. The world cheered on Monday (Nov 9) when Pfizer announced its shot, jointly developed with BioNTech SE, was more than 90 per cent effective based on initial trial results. Yet health experts cautioned that the vaccine, should it be approved, was no silver bullet - not least because the genetic material it's made from needs to be stored at temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius or below.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Nov 10, 2020) 

First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

‘The first effective coronavirus vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19, a preliminary analysis shows. The developers - Pfizer and BioNTech - described it as a "great day for science and humanity". Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been raised. The companies plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of the month.’

Read here (BBC, Nov 9, 2020)