As most of us know by now, drugmaker Pfizer announed that its COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective in preventing the disease, the final stage of clinical trials having proven its effectiveness.
While this is good news, we still have plenty of questions that need to be answered. When will the vaccine be available on the market? Who will be the first people to receive it? How long will it take to see the results of the vaccine on a global level? Business Insider tried to answer some of these questions, in hopes that we will have reasonable expectations in regards to the new vaccine.
Here is a summary of what we should expect, according to Science Alert:
- The scientists of Pfizer want to gather more data regarding the vaccine’s safety before moving forward. The data will be available starting next week;
- The US Food and Drug Administration will then have to decide whether the Pfizer vaccine will receive an emergency approval;
- The FDA approval might only benefit the most at-risk groups at first (the elderly and healthcare workers);
- 50 million doses are set to be produced by the end of 2020;
- 1.3 billion doses are set to arrive in 2021 – those will be used on people who are not considered high-risk as well;
- Each person will need two vaccine shots, with a three-week waiting period between the first and second shots;
- The vaccine needs to be transported at extremely low temperatures (minus 94 degrees Farenheit), possibly affecting its accessibility to certain places;
- Some logistical issues might prevent a smooth vaccine rollout.
Several countries have already ordered millions of doses of the vaccine for their citizens, including the US, the UK, Canada, Japan and European Union nations. Meanwhile, other companies are still working on developing their own COVID-19 vaccine, expecting promising results to share with the world soon.
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