Top City Health Official Reacts to News of Promising Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

Pfizer officials said Monday the pharmaceutical company’s vaccine against the coronavirus was strongly effective and exceeding expectations.

The company reported early research showed that individuals who received two injections of the vaccine three weeks apart experienced more than 90 percent fewer cases of symptomatic COVID-19 than those who received a placebo.

“I think that’s very exciting news,” said Dr. Ying-Ying Goh, who leads the Pasadena Health Department. “I think it reflects that we could be moving towards a safe and effective vaccine in the coming months.”

According to Goh, the data will have to be reviewed when it is available. 

The vaccine is the first to be tested in the country to generate late-stage data. Previously, health officials cautioned that a vaccine might only be 60 percent or 70 percent effective. 

As of Monday, there had been 2,953 cases of the virus in Pasadena and a total of 129 fatalities.

The Phase 3 study is ongoing and additional data could affect results.

In keeping with guidance from the Food and Drug Administration, the company will not file for an emergency use authorization to distribute the vaccine until they reach another milestone: when half of the patients in their study have been observed for any safety issues for at least two months following their second dose. Pfizer expects to cross that threshold in the third week of November.

Because the vaccine has been studied for only a matter of months, it is impossible to say how long it will protect against infection with the virus. The vaccine does cause side effects, including aches and fevers, according to previously published data. 

The results have not been peer-reviewed by outside scientists or published in a medical journal.

Initial supplies of the vaccine, if authorized, will be limited. Pfizer says up to 50 million doses could be available globally by the end of the year, with 1.3 billion available in 2021. There are also expected to be distribution challenges. The vaccine must be stored at super-cold temperatures, which could make it extremely difficult to deliver to many places. Pfizer has said it is confident those issues can be managed.

Although the estimate of the efficacy of the vaccine could change as the study is completed, it is close to a best-case scenario. That also bodes well for other vaccines in the late stages of testing, including those developed by Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson.