A professor reserves thoughts on “90% effective vaccine"

Professor Seol Dai Wu at Chung-Ang University “Early analysis of Phase 3 with 94, too soon to evaluate the final result”

Instructed to store at -70 °C and use within 5 hours after production

“Even if possible to use it, need to first contemplate on it”

Professor Seol Dai Wu at Chung-Ang University

A U.S.

 

pharmaceutical company Pfizer has attracted a global attention as it announced a COVID-19 vaccine in development has demonstrated an efficacy rate above 90 percent in early results from a Phase 3 trial.

 

One of vaccine experts in South Korea, Professor Seol Dai Wu at Chung-Ang University College of Pharmacy spoke on Nov.

 

11 at an interview by YTN and said, “Although I look forward to the positive results, experts would need to see more transparent information to properly assess the vaccine.” Professor Seol carefully commented, “The final result of the Phase 3 study on Pfizer vaccine is expected to be out on Dec.

 

11, 2022.

 

The announcement was based on 94 early test participants.

 

The company is running the Phase 3 study with 50,000 participants, and it is almost impossible to fathom the final result from an early analysis on 94 people out of 44,000 people, who have been administered with the vaccine.

 

Also the claim of ’90-percent effective’ could be controversial, so we need wait to see further results.” “The early test result is from a comparison between the vaccine-administered group and placebo-administered group, where most of the COVID-19 positive cases were found from the placebo group.

 

And the number of infected cases among the vaccine group was so low that the early result was claimed to have shown efficacy of 90 percent,” the professor added.

 

Professor Seol does not see high possibility of adverse reaction breaking out from the Pfizer vaccine, but the vaccine’s level of efficacy is still unknown.

 

He said, “Based on the vaccine’s technology, the adverse reaction is less likely to be observed, but a basic efficacy is extremely crucial for a vaccine.

 

An outstanding vaccine has an effect of immediately killing off virus that infiltrated a body to completely block the proliferation, but underperforming vaccine could actually let the virus to spread inside the human body.

 

We have all our attention fixed on Pfizer’s vaccine to evaluate how effective the vaccine really is.” If the result of the vaccine’s Phase 3 clinical trial is good, Pfizer would apply for the U.S.

 

Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) emergency approval to provide the vaccine to the mass.

 

However, the professor stated he would reserve his opinion on using the vaccine for now, regardless of the efficacy, it would be challenging to distribute it via cold chain in South Korea.

 

Professor Seol elaborated, “Pfizer’s vaccine is instructed to be delivered and stored at a temperature under negative 70 degrees Celsius and to be used within five hours from the point of production.

 

The mRNA used in the vaccine is exceptionally insecure, which can falter the vaccine to lose the effect if it is not properly kept in cold chain.” “Although South Korea has good cold chain facilities that maintain the temperature at negative 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, a cold chain system for negative 70 degrees is not prepared.

 

If South Korea were to use Pfizer’s vaccine, a significant amount of investments should be made as well,” he noted.