Latest Coronavirus vaccine update: This year Christmas gift could be COVID-19 vaccine

Coronavirus Covid-19 vaccine update: It could be merry Christmas and a happy new year as Pfizer and BioNTech are preparing to start deliveries of their Covid-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2 before December 25. BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin was quoted as saying by Reuters that emergency-use approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and the conditional approval from European Union could be obtained by the middle of December and the second half of December respectively and distribution can commence before Christmas.

BioNTech Chief Executive’s statement came after Pfizer disclosed final trial results showing its vaccine candidate had a 95 per cent success rate and no serious side effects. Pfizer has already launched a pilot delivery program for its BNT162b2 Coronavirus vaccine in four states of the US – Texas, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.

BioNTech claimed that the application for the emergency use authorization (EUA) from the US FDA would be submitted on Friday (local time). However, an advisory panel of the US FDA is likely to meet on December 8 to December 10 to deliberate on the Pfizer vaccine, as per a Reuters report.

Pfizer has revealed that it was expecting to produce around 50 million (5 crore) vaccine doses in 2020. The drugmaker said this will be enough to protect 25 million people (2.5 crore), and it can produce up to 1.3 billion (130 crore) doses in 2021. Pfizer has already made an offer to Brazil for providing millions of doses in the first half of 2021. Pfizer has entered agreements with the European Union, Germany, and Japan, and distribution in these countries could begin in 2021, the Reuters report says.

Moderna, Oxford Covid-19 vaccine: This week Moderna has also revealed a preliminary report that its mRNA-1273 Covid-19 vaccine candidate has shown 94.5 per cent efficacy rate. Moderna vaccine is likely to be authorized seven to 10 days after Pfizer receives its EUA, US officials said adding that states would be ready to begin distribution within 24 hours.

Oxford-AstraZeneca said that the late-stage date of their Covid-19 vaccine candidate AZD1222-ChAdOx1nCoV-19 would likely to be announced in November or December. Johnson & Johnson said it was on track to deliver data in 2020.