Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine protection against COVID-19 lasts at least 'six months'

Pfizer and BioNTech in a joint statement on April 1 said citing the ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine that its protection against the novel coronavirus lasts for ‘six months’ after the second dose. The companies said on Thursday that the vaccine remains more than 91% effective against the highly infectious disease with any symptoms for at least half a year. Further, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine also appeared to be fully effective against South Africa’s coronavirus variant, B.1.351 that worried researchers that it might have evolved to evade vaccine protection. 

“The vaccine was 100 per cent effective against severe disease as defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and 95.3 per cent effective against severe Covid-19 as defined by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)."

"Safety data from the Phase 3 study has also been collected from more than 12,000 vaccinated participants who have a follow-up time of at least six months after the second dose, demonstrating a favourable safety and tolerability profile," Pfizer and BioNTech said in a joint statement after on March 31 the companies said their vaccine showed 100 per cent efficacy against COVID-19 in 12-15 years old.

Data confirms ‘favourable efficacy’

Both Pfizer and BioNTech CEOs, Albert Bourla and Ugur Sahin hailed the results of the ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial of the coronavirus vaccine which has already been approved in a number of nations. While Bourla said that data has confirmed the vaccine’s ‘favourable efficacy’, Sahin noted that it was an “important step”, especially in a longer-term follow-up. 

“These data confirm the favourable efficacy and safety profile of our vaccine and position us to submit a Biologics License Application to the U.S. FDA,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO. “The high vaccine efficacy observed through up to six months following a second dose and against the variant prevalent in South Africa provides further confidence in our vaccine’s overall effectiveness.”

“It is an important step to further confirm the strong efficacy and good safety data we have seen so far, especially in a longer-term follow-up,” said Ugur Sahin, BioNTech CEO. “These data also provide the first clinical results that a vaccine can effectively protect against currently circulating variants, a critical factor to reach herd immunity and end this pandemic for the global population.”

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