Pfizer has announced that early results in its COVID-19 vaccine trial show an astonishing 90 percent efficacy, notes Physicians for Civil Defense. “In 10 years only three other vaccines with efficacy greater than 50 percent have been developed.”
Of about 40,000 volunteers who received two doses of the experimental vaccine, 94 have developed at least one symptom along with a positive test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Of these, about 9 had received the vaccine and 85 the placebo.
Public health authorities are mobilizing to set up immunization centers as soon as Pfizer receives an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to release the vaccine. It will be delivered in a tray with 975 doses, which must be stored at minus 80 degrees Celsius and given within a few days of thawing. A second dose is needed.
Several other vaccines are close to deployment.
While Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson have laudably published their vaccine trial protocols, there is cause for concern, states Physicians for Civil Defense president Jane Orient, M.D., that the trials are “designed to succeed.” The vaccines may succeed, but only at reducing symptoms and not at preventing contagion or death, according to former Harvard Medical School professor William Haseltine.
“While we await a vaccine, or even if most people receive it, there is an urgent need for early, home-based treatment to prevent hospitalization and death,” states Dr. Orient. “There is growing evidence to support use of safe, effective treatments. A free patient guide is available from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.”
Physicians for Civil Defense provides information to help save lives in the event of natural or man-made disasters.
