Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine candidate 90% effective?

[kiore]

This appears to be good news, but I am waiting on independent review of their trial data. So far from what I understand neither Pfizer or Moderna have released any of that data for review, so we only have their reports. Further, if I am understanding reports correctly, what is being reported is antibodies being detected about a week after the vaccine was administered, not whether those antibodies were effective at protecting against the coronavirus.

No the reason they are confident is because they had over the required numbers become infected quickly due to the prevalence of the virus, in Moderna's case they had more that double the required 'wild' infections, nearly all in the group who did not receive the actual vaccine. I really hope the first people offered the approved vaccine (when approved) are those volunteers on the trials who received the non vaccine doses.

[gunnarre]

Yes, the efficacy measurement of a vaccine is the symptomatic infection rate in the vaccinated versus the placebo group, not the mere presence of antibodies (immune response). Immune response is also measured, because it can give an early indication of if the vaccine is effective in both young and old patients, for example, but the actual efficacy of the vaccine can only be shown by people not getting sick even if they're exposed to the virus.

[foldy]

In Germany the new vaccine centers get ready til Christmas. But vaccine is limited to necessary professionals and corona risk group first. It will take the whole year 2021 to vaccinate the entire German population. Currently we have a lockdown light were all restaurants, bars, cinema, clubs... have closed for this year, which limits maximum concurrent covid patients in the hospitals. It will hopefully be the last time...

Our neighbouring country Switzerland did not limit leisure activities and now their hospitals reached the limit and doctors start the triage for patients to get on the machines or die.

Neighboring country Denmark on the other hand the new mutated corona virus "Cluster 5" in all probability had become extinct and the affected municipalities now switch from full lockdown to lockdown light again.