German biotech CureVac NV said the company’s Covid-19 vaccine was only 47 percent effective in a late-stage trial, missing the study’s main goal and throwing in doubt the potential delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to the European Union.
A sense of urgency, powerful science, relentless ingenuity, hope and trust drove the development of Pfizer and BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the crisis appears to lessen, Pfizer is preparing for the next pandemic.
The World Health Organization said on June 1 it has approved a Covid-19 vaccine made by drugmaker Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing, paving the way for a second Chinese shot to be used in poor countries.
India’s only domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine was found to be 78 percent effective in a second analysis of clinical trials done around the country, Covaxin’s makers said on April 21.
An open question is how long the current Covid-19 vaccines will offer protection against the virus. Will they provide lifelong protection like some vaccines, such as polio, or seasonal, like influenza?
The United States may not need AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, even if it wins U.S. regulatory approval, Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor told Reuters on April 1.
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said on March 10 that real-world data from Israel suggests their Covid-19 vaccine is 94 percent effective in preventing asymptomatic infections, meaning it could significantly reduce transmission.
Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose Covid-19 vaccine appeared safe and effective in trials, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said, paving the way for approval for emergency use as soon as Feb. 26.
AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine is more effective when its second dose is given three months after the first, instead of six weeks, a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet medical journal showed on Feb. 19.
Perhaps the synergy of federal spending and pharma/biotech ingenuity we witnessed during Operation Warp Speed should continue beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to address other medical crises. Turning the race for a vaccine into something like the 1889 Oklahoma land rush was a masterstroke.
