Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech announced positive results from the phase 3 trial for their coronavirus vaccine. The drug, BNT162b2, met all of the study’s primary and secondary endpoints, with an incredible 95% efficacy rate. Out of a subset of 8,000 volunteers, 162 people in the placebo group contracted COVID-19, and only eight people in the vaccinated group did.
Not to be outdone, Moderna announced similar outstanding news. Ninety people in the placebo group tested positive for COVID-19, and only five in the vaccinated group. And finally, the vaccine named after the Russian satellite that was first in space — Sputnik — recently reported 92% efficacy.
Of course the world is desperate for a COVID-19 vaccine. Is every vaccine going to be 90% effective? Will some vaccines fall short? What will happen if the vaccine from Novavax is only 79% effective? Will that be high enough for FDA approval? Let’s dig in.
