Pfizer vaccine ready for FDA review

Final data from Phase 2/3 study shows vaccine reduces infections by 95%, reduces severity among others. But this good news doesn't change the accelerating spread of COVID-19 across the USA.

COVID fatigue is the biggest challenge, according to health experts and frontline healthcare workers. Expect to hear more calls to MaskUp! in the days ahead, and please set good examples for others around you by covering your face, giving others space, and cleaning hands frequently.

• Pfizer released final data early Wednesday from its COVID-19 vaccine trial, and the results are beyond anyone’s expectations. There were 170 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the 8,000 person data set that was evaluated. Of those, 162 infections were in the placebo group and 8 who received the active vaccine - meaning 95% efficacy, the company said.

  • Only one of the eight cases among the vaccine group was serious, which suggests that the vaccine may reduce severity even if it does not thwart infection.

  • Moderna’s final results should follow soon.

  • Pfizer says it will request FDA clearance for its vaccine “within days.”

• The good news on vaccines won’t do anything to help hospitals around the nation, many of which are operating in crisis mode.

• The FDA gave emergency clearance to the first at-home COVID-19 test kit.

• More than 900 Mayo Clinic staff have contracted COVID-19 in the past two weeks, the Minnesota-based medical institution disclosed. Contact tracing indicates that the vast majority acquired the infection while off-work in their communities or while eating in break rooms, meaning their masks were off in hospital facilities at certain times.

• New York City is again closing schools, after the area’s COVID-19 test positivity rate inched up.

• Artificial intelligence has the potential to help detect COVID-19 clusters, but researchers warn that inaccurate or incomplete data (partly due to variations in testing and other factors) render AI predictions no better than rolling dice.

• Cold storage requirements for COVID-19 vaccines have prompted airlines and freight companies to scramble. Reuters has a report on the work around the world to make mass vaccine distribution possible.

• Seven Midwest governors joined together on a video to urge people in their states to #MaskUp.