Pfizer Says COVID Vaccine Safe Through Up To 6 Months After Second Dose
(CBSDFW.COM) - Pfizer and BioNTech announced Thursday that their COVID-19 vaccine was 91.3% effective at protecting against symptomatic disease up to six months after the second dose, with no serious safety concerns, according to an updated analysis of clinical trial results.
"It is an important step to further confirm the strong efficacy and good safety data we have seen so far, especially in a longer-term follow-up," said Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech. "These data also provide the first clinical results that a vaccine can effectively protect against currently circulating variants, a critical factor to reach herd immunity and end this pandemic for the global population."
Real-world and trial data continue to indicate the vaccine is highly effective, especially against COVID-19 hospitalization and death. The companies said updated trial results showed the vaccine offered 100% protection against severe disease as defined by the CDC, and 95.3% as defined by the FDA.
"The high vaccine efficacy observed through up to six months following a second dose and against the variant prevalent in South Africa provides further confidence in our vaccine's overall effectiveness," said Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer.
Nine-hundred-twenty-seven symptomatic COVID-19 cases were detected among the trial's 46,307 participants — 850 of which came from the placebo group and 77 of which came from the vaccine group.
Thirty-two cases of severe disease as defined by the CDC were observed in the placebo group, and none were observed in the vaccine group.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is authorized for use under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for active immunization to prevent coronavirus disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in people 16 years of age and older.