Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine announcement is cause for cautious celebration

It is not yet the end of the pandemic, but the announcement by Pfizer/BioNTech that their vaccine has been 90% successful in the vital large-scale trials has got even the soberest of scientists excited.

 These are interim results and the trial will continue into December to collect more data. The two companies – a tiny German biotech with the big idea and the giant pharma company Pfizer with the means to develop it – have not yet published their detailed data, so it is all on trust. And yet, nobody is suggesting the results have been over-egged. It looks as though the vaccine not only works, but works better than anyone hoped. Europe, the US and the UK have all pre-bought supplies of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine – there will be 200m doses going to the EU, 100m to the US and 40m to the UK. But although manufacturing is already well under way, there will not be enough to supply everyone who wants it straight away. Experts have said that we need more than one vaccine to end the global pandemic.

 There are several more on the horizon, notably the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine that uses a different technology. The great news for all the vaccine makers out there is that it is possible.

 A vaccine can actually prevent infections – and not just stop people dying by attenuating the illness they get.

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