Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced Monday that its coronavirus vaccine trial was effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in 90% of previously uninfected people and did not produce any serious safety concerns.
Why it matters: Should the results bear out, it would potentially a huge breakthrough in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
- Pfizer said it will go to the FDA by the end of the month for an emergency use authorization.
By the numbers: Pfizer, who developed the vaccine with German pharmaceutical company BioNTech, says that they have enrolled "43,538 participants to date, 38,955 of whom have received a second dose of the vaccine candidate as of Nov. 8, 2020."
- "The trial is continuing to enroll and is expected to continue through the final analysis when a total of 164 confirmed COVID-19 cases have accrued."
Worth noting, per the N.Y. Times: The company "released only sparse details" from the trial, and scientists "have cautioned against hyping early results before long-term safety and efficacy data has been collected."