Pfizer reports encouraging results from vaccine tests

Pfizer has reported a 90% efficacy rate for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate in a limited number of test participants.

Michael Erman and Julie Steenhuisen from Reuters reported:

Pfizer Inc’s PFE.N experimental COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective based on initial trial results, the drugmaker said on Monday, a major victory in the war against a virus that has killed over a million people and battered the world’s economy.

The Wall Street Journal’s Jared S. Hopkins wrote:

The positive, though incomplete, results bring the vaccine a big step closer to getting cleared for widespread use. Pfizer said it is on track to ask health regulators for permission to sell the shot before the end of this month, if pending data indicate the vaccine is safe.

The timetable suggests the vaccine could go into distribution this month or next, though U.S. health regulators have indicated they will take some time to conduct their review. Then it will take months for the companies to make enough doses for the general population.

CNBC’s Seema Mody noted:

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, travel executives have been pinning their hopes on a Covid-19 vaccine saving their industry, which has suffered from the fallout of the health crisis.

Following news Monday of Pfizer’s vaccine data showing more than 90% efficacy among participants without evidence of prior infection, CEOs from major cruise lines and hospitality operators cheered the breakthrough.

“TripAdvisor has long believed travel will recover with vigor as soon as a vaccine was widely available. Today’s Pfizer news is a welcomed step in the right direction,” Steve Kaufer, CEO of TripAdvisor, told CNBC in an email.