Pfizer claims its COVID-19 vaccine as “highly effective”

Pfizer claims its COVID-19 vaccine to be “highly effective” against the variant of COVID-19 virus prevalent in India :

On 26 May 2021, Pfizer announced that its COVID-19 vaccine is “highly effective” against the variant that is prevalent in India. It also presented data to the Indian government to prove the vaccine’s effectiveness on people of Indian ethnicity. The company added that it has repeatedly sought fast-track approval of its vaccine in India.

In the third week of May 2021, Pfizer told the government that its vaccine is suitable for all aged above 12 years and can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees. It also revealed its willingness to offer 5 crore shots to India between July 2021 and October 2021.

The pharma giant has, however, sought certain relaxations before supplying the vaccines, especially indemnification.

The Indian government has agreed to jointly work together with Pfizer to accelerate the approval of the company’s vaccine in India. It plans to address the three key issues in this regard. These are procurement of the vaccines through the central government pathway, indemnity and liability, and regulatory requirements for post-approval bridging studies.

At present, two vaccines are being used in India. These are Covishield manufactured by the SII^[1] and Covaxin of Bharat Biotech. Russian-made Sputnik V is being used at a small scale to inoculate the population. All three jabs are approved for use in people above 18 years of age.

Pfizer claims its COVID-19 vaccine as “highly effective”

The US pharma firm has stated that India should on the 44 authorizations, including WHO^[2] approval to grant EUA^[3] for its vaccine in India. It further opinioned that India should not seek a local PSA^[4] study.

Based on the data collected by UK’s PHE^[5], Pfizer’s vaccine reveals 87.9 % effectiveness against the B.1.617.2 variant, which is the most reported in India. An observational study that ended on 22 May 2021 revealed this.

Pfizer also stated that around 26 % of the participants of this study were of Indian or British Indian ethnicity. This study also included people of Bangladeshi (1.4%), Pakistani (5.9%), and other Asian backgrounds (5.7%). The observed effectiveness was the same in the participants belonging to these backgrounds as well.

Abbreviation :

• 1. Serum Institute of India
• 2. World Health Organization
• 3. Emergency Use Authorization
• 4. Post Approval Commitment
• 5.  Public Health England