Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine now 95% effective and will be submitted for authorisation 'within days'.

[2greys]

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has now proved 95% effective in preventing coronavirus and has met the safety criteria needed for emergency authorisation, the firms have said.

Pfizer and BioNTech say they plan to submit the COVID-19 vaccine to the US regulator for emergency use approval "within days" before sharing with others around the world. The UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), is poised to fast-track authorisation of the vaccine, which could mean it is rolled out to priority groups from mid-December.

Final efficacy analysis of the jab showed 95% were protected from the virus within 28 days of the first dose - up from when results of Phase 3 trials were shared last week. It also proved 94% effective among adults over the age of 65 - who are generally more vulnerable.

"No serious safety concerns" were reported in the analysis, with only 2% of the 43,000 involved reporting a headache and 3.7% reporting fatigue, the companies said.

news.sky.com/story/covid-19...

[Ian1967]

Hi 2greys, some good news at last, these vaccines are the only real way we can get back to some sort of normality, I can’t wait to be able to see my friends and family again, I attend a pub quiz once a week where I meet them and haven’t been able to meet them since the beginning of March.

I wonder when I will be contacted to take up the vaccine, I’m in the shielding group because I use ambulatory oxygen and BiPAP and oxygen at bedtime, because of Type II Respiratory Failure caused by my scoliosis, I don’t know where I fit on the vaccine take up list, I’m only 53 but vulnerable, the sooner they contact me the better as far as I’m concerned, I will not be one of those who turns down the vaccine, in fact I registered through the ZOE app for vaccine trials, but never heard anything back.

Stay safe everyone,

Ian.

[Offcut]

Let's hope it all goes as expected.

[gejay]

Will pregnant women be having the vax and if they do how do the authorities know it won't harm the baby? no woman would want to test it. Not being funny but I can remember thalidomide as I am sure many of you do.

[deejames in reply to gejay]

I see your concerns but it is slightly different as thalidomide was not a vaccine but medication for morning sickness. I doubt pregnant women will be offered it initially.