Here’s why Pfizer’s vaccine is so important
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) became the first drugmaker to obtain emergency use authorization in the United States for its COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccine over the weekend. On Monday, the first Americans were vaccinated against the coronavirus. In this Motley Fool Live Video recorded on December 11, 2020, Health Care and Cannabis Bureau Chief Corinne Cardina spoke to immunotherapy scientist Dr Leo Nissola about why Pfizer’s vaccine is so important.
Corrine Cardina: Last night, the FDA advisory panel recommended that the FDA go ahead with the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine candidate for emergency use. Today, the FDA confirmed that it will sue this UA for the vaccine.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar said that clearance would take place in the coming days and that we could see inoculations by Monday. Dr. Nissola, what does this mean for the United States and the world?
Dr Léo Nissola: Well, first of all, I hope the people back home understand the uniqueness of this moment. We have never experienced this in our existence. Clinical trials are a complex and lengthy process that I am not sure we thought would be possible to deliver a drug in such a short period of time and it is beautiful to see that it has happened.
For us, that means we now have tools to get us out of the pandemic safely. This means that we are not going to rely on collective immunity. We’re not going to rely on strategies that only deal with therapeutics for those who get sick, but also prevent people from getting severe COVID-19, and I think that’s really important.
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