Pfizer "Vaccine Effectiveness 91%... Effective Against South African Variant"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Pfizer and BioNTech announced the Phase 3 clinical trial results showing that their COVID-19 vaccine has an efficacy rate of about 91%.

According to Pfizer-BioNTech on the 1st, the Phase 3 results conducted on 46,307 people until the 13th of last month showed a vaccine efficacy of 91.3%. Previously, the Phase 3 clinical trial results conducted on 44,000 people in November last year showed 95%. The reason for the lower efficacy compared to the previous results is interpreted as the impact of the recent spread of more transmissible variants in various regions.

Specifically, a total of 927 COVID-19 infection cases occurred during the clinical trial. There were 850 cases in the placebo group and 77 cases in the vaccinated group. Additionally, vaccine efficacy did not vary significantly by age, gender, or race.

Along with this, Pfizer stated that in trials conducted in South Africa, the vaccine showed 100% efficacy, indicating effectiveness against the variant (B.1.351). In the clinical trial conducted on 800 people in South Africa, only the placebo group had 9 infection cases. Pfizer evaluated that this supports existing data that their vaccine is strongly effective against the South African variant (B.1.351).

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said, "This announcement is an important step in further confirming the strong efficacy and good safety data of our vaccine," adding, "It provides the first clinical results showing that the vaccine can also prevent the currently spreading variants."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.