A coronavirus vaccine developed by the American company Pfizer and the German company BioNTech is 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 infections, the companies say.
According to preliminary results, patients were protected from the disease seven days after the second of two doses was given and 28 days after the first.
“The first results from our phase 3 tests of the COVID-19 vaccine provide early indications that the vaccine is capable of preventing COVID-19,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.
“We are one big step closer to being able to give people around the world a much-needed breakthrough to end this global health crisis,” the statement further stated.
However, the results do not mean that a vaccine is imminent.
Preliminary results
The preliminary results are based only on 94 cases of infections that have so far been registered among 44,000 people in the USA and other countries.
The news comes as the coronavirus is on the rise in large parts of the world, with more and more people being admitted to intensive care units.
The company says it expects to be able to offer around 50 million doses of the vaccine in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
The vaccine is among ten candidates who are in the final stages of testing.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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