Just the News posted an article yesterday about Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine.
The article reports:
With three promising vaccines for COVID-19 in the pipeline, there’s still uncertainty about how effective they will be.
Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer Pharmaceutical – which has applied to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for its vaccine – sat down with CBS’s Lester Holt on “Dateline NBC” for an interview that will air Thursday night.
Holt said: “And then what about the question, Albert, of even though I’ve had the protection, am I still able to transmit it to other people?” according to transcript provided by the network.
“I think this is something that needs to be examined,” Bourla said. “We are not certain about that right now with what we know.”
Biotech firm Moderna on Monday said it will ask the FDA to approve its experimental COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. Moderna said new data showed the vaccine was 94.1% effective in its late-stage clinical trial, just under Pfizer’s efficacy rate of 95%. The Moderna vaccine was developed in conjunction with the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed.
“We believe that our vaccine will provide a new and powerful tool that may change the course of this pandemic and help prevent severe disease, hospitalizations, and death,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. Bancel said last week that 20 million doses will be available by the end of the year.
So the vaccine can prevent a person from getting the coronavirus, but the manufacturers are unsure if it will prevent a person from spreading the coronavirus. I wonder if they know how long the vaccine will last. I am asking these questions because I have had the coronavirus. I have been told that I should be immune to the virus for an unspecified amount of time and that there are questions as to whether I can transmit the virus while being immune to it. I have also been told that if I decide to get the vaccine, I should wait at least 90 days from the time I recovered from the virus. Frankly, at this point, I am not convinced that the vaccine is going to get the result that is needed. It is probably a good idea for people who have not had the coronavirus to get the vaccine–at least that will slow if not stop the spread-but how long will that protection last and how thorough is the protection provided by the vaccine?