He said he believes trials will show his firm has achieved a vaccine efficacy similar to Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

Earlier, several reports suggested that AstraZeneca vaccine may not be as good as the one made by Pfizer, already being distributed in the UK and other countries. Partial results suggest that the AstraZeneca shot is about 70 percent effective for preventing illness from coronavirus infection, compares to the 95% efficacy reported by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

“We think we have figured out the winning formula and how to get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with everybody else,” the chief executive said, while saying only that data would be published at “some point”.

The United Kingdom government announced on December 23 that the developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine had submitted their data to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Approval is expected to be granted to roll out the jab on January 4.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first coronavirus shot to be authorised for use by the UK’s independent medicines regulator and has been given to 600,000 of the country’s most vulnerable people since last month.

Earlier trials had shown different outcomes in the AstraZeneca shot’s efficacy. The vaccine initially showed an average 70 per cent effectiveness but that level jumped to 90 per cent depending on the dosage.

The post AstraZeneca Covid vaccine claims achieving 100% winning formula appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Officials have indicated that India may not prefer Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine over the other options available to the country for the prevention of Covid-19.

On December 13, coronavirus vaccine vials of Pfizer made their way to distribution site across the United States. The coronavirus vaccine shots are expected to be given to health care workers and nursing home residents in the US beginning Monday.

The same scenario won’t happen anytime soon in India, as the cost of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is one of the primary reasons for it. At $37 i.e, Rs 2,728, the coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer is much more expensive compared to the other vaccine candidates such as Oxford-AstraZeneca ‘Covishield’ and the $10 (Rs 737) vaccine candidate developed by Russia.

Bernstein analysts have said that assuming the cost per vial of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to be at $3 (Rs 220.95), India may procure 680 million doses of the vaccine which would cost the country $1.9 billion. However, if the cost of Pfizer’s vaccine remains at $13, it would cost the country 12 times more. According to a report in Business Standard, Pfizer has said the company would only sell through government contracts.

The post India may not procure Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is set to meet on December 10 to discuss Pfizer Inc.’s request for an emergency use authorisation for its developing Covid-19 vaccine.

US drug maker Pfizer Inc, has claimed that they developed a 95% effective vaccine against coronavirus. They are now seeking the emergency use tag from US government for its dosage. Pfizer has said the emergency use tag could start the process early and the coronavirus vaccine doses could be available as early as next month.

Dr. Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the coronvirus vaccine program said that their plan is able to ship vaccines to the immunisation sites within 24 hours from the approval.

Meanwhile leaders of the 20 biggest economies vowed to spare no effort to supply Covid-19drugs, tests and vaccines affordably and fairly to ‘all people”, reflecting worries that the pandemic could deepen divisions between the world’s rich and poor.

Meanwhile Niti Ayog member and National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19, Vinod Paul said that Pune-based Serum Institute (SII) may be granted emergency use authorisation of the Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine if AstraZeneca get approval from the UK government. He also said that if the clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccine in India go as per the script, phase III trials should be over by January-February 2021.

The post First US citizen likely to receive COVID vaccine shot by December 12 appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

This comes after drugmaker Pfizer on November 18 said that their coronavirus vaccine candidate has shown 95 percent efficacy in the late-stage trial. The efficacy of vaccine was consistent across age and ethinicity demographics and there were no major side effects.

The vaccine is developed with German partner BioNTech SE.

Moderna had also announced that its experimental Covid-19 vaccine ‘mRNA-1273’ was 94.5 percent effective in preventing coronavirus.

In India, the third phase trial of Indian vaccine candidate Covaxin is also set to start on November 20 in Haryana. The trials will take place at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science, Rohtak in Haryana.

Covaxin is being developed indigenously by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Meanwhile, those worried whether the vaccines can protect against coronavirus mutation can relax. A new study involving a University of York virologist has said that vaccines currently being developed for Covid-19 should not be affected by recent mutation in the virus.

Most vaccines under development worldwide have been modelled on the ‘D-strain’ of the virus.
Since then, the virus has evolved to the globally dominant ‘G-strain’, which now accounts for about 85 per cent of published SARS-CoV-2 genomes.

There had been fears that the G-strain, within the main protein on the surface of the virus, would negatively impact vaccines under development. But the research by Australia’s national science agency – the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) – found no evidence that the change would adversely impact the efficacy of vaccine candidates.

The post Delivery of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine could start on Dec appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Emirates airline will partner with global pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer to help with distributing its COVID-19 vaccine.

Emirates president Tim Clark said the airline is working closely with American multinational Pfizer to develop methods to transport the vaccine.

“The industry is trying to establish best practice involving the third-party supply chain and this logistical exercise, to ensure we get them [vaccines] to the markets that need them so badly, and basically that’s the whole planet,” Clark told

CNBC in an exclusive interview on November 15. “The logistics of distribution of this vaccine of this nature, given the conditions under which it has to be shipped – it’s going to be a challenge for the industry. We’re working on trying to move this Pfizer vaccine in specially designed containers on our planes, in our holds, and in the cabins, and keeping them at that level through the distribution point,” he added.

The vaccine has to be kept at a temperature around minus 70°C for optimal efficiency.

Last week, Pfizer and its German trial partner BioNTech announced that their Covid-19 vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective. The data comes from ongoing Phase 3 clinical trials. While reports indicate the vaccine may cause side effects, such as aches and fever, they are not worse than what is often seen with other vaccines.

The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is one of 11 around the world in Phase 3 clinical trials, which involve thousands of participants. Other vaccine candidates in clinical trials around the world include vaccines from Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

If the vaccine receives approval for widespread use, a maximum of about 50 million doses would be available this year, with capacity for 1.3 billion more to be manufactured in 2021, according to Pfizer.

Clark said the Pfizer vaccine, and others in development, could have a positive impact on the global economic recovery, the aviation sector and global aviation demand.

The post Emirates to help with vaccine transport appeared first on The Gulf Indians.