Pfizer seeks clearance for COVID-19 vaccine claimed to be 95 per cent effective

A COVID-19 vaccine could be available in the US as early as next month.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer is set to apply for emergency US authorisation for its vaccine within two days.

It comes after the company reported the final results from its most recent trial show the vaccine is “95 per cent effective against COVID-19 beginning 28 days after the first dose”.

Pfizer says vaccine efficacy among people aged over 65, the cohort most vulnerable to COVID-19, is more than 94 per cent.

Pfizer’s trial involved over 43,000 people. There were 170 cases of COVID-19 within the trial group, with just eight of those among participants who received the vaccine, not the placebo.

If emergency authorisation is approved, the first Americans could begin to receive the vaccine next month.