The widow of a local man who lost his life to COVID, told us she could still vividly remember the Polio epidemic and the day that they came out with a vaccine for Polio. She was just a little girl when the Polio epidemic struck. An effective vaccine for COVID is what she has been praying for now, and it looks like that day may come soon.
Local officials say that vaccines will likely be distributed in small “pod” sites in Medina County, rather than in a mass distribution site.
“We are constantly working with the State, clinics, and the hospital regarding vaccines, and how they will be distributed,” said Pat Mechler, Medina County Health Unit Director.
Ironically, Mechler notes, “We do exercises every 5 years to prepare for mass distribution sites, and 2020 would be time for our next exercise, but I do not think we will be doing any exercises are we are in a real emergency right now. And in this case, with COVID, especially with the need for social distancing, we do not think a mass distribution is the best idea.”
“We do have a plan in place if we need it, but I don’t think we will be doing a mass distribution of COVID vaccines,” Mechler adds.
Instead, they will set up small closed “pods” for certain groups.
“We will be targeting first responders and healthcare workers first,” Mechler said. “We will also just have to see how fast vaccines get distributed and who gets the biggest doses. If Walmart and HEB get most of the vaccines, we will all have to work together.”
“There will be plenty of opportunities to get the vaccine, and it will be interesting to see how many people want to get it right away, how many want to wait for someone else to get it first,” Mechler said.
“We are also working with nursing homes, which would be able to do their own distribution,” Mechler notes.
“Also, I want to note that the vaccine is not going to be given to anyone under the age of 18, as it hasn’t been approved for emergency use in kids,” Mechler adds.
“If we get Pfizer vaccines, it requires something like negative 70 degree temperature, so it’s really delicate and fragile and coordinating the distributions would be more difficult,” Mechler notes, “where as the other vaccine only requires refrigeration.”
“I also think we need to do some education, especially with our younger generation on vaccines. Many don’t seem to know what polio is or why we need to get that shot and why vaccines are important.”
According to the Texas Tribune, if a vaccine against the coronavirus became available at a low cost, 42% of Texas registered voters said they would try to get it, and 36% said they wouldn’t, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.
By Kayleen Holder
Editor
PFIZER AND BIONTECH ANNOUNCE VACCINE CANDIDATE AGAINST COVID-19 ACHIEVED SUCCESS IN FIRST INTERIM ANALYSIS FROM PHASE 3 STUDY
Press Release Monday, November 09, 2020 – 06:45am
Vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis
Analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants
Study enrolled 43,538 participants, with 42% having diverse backgrounds, and no serious safety concerns have been observed; Safety and additional efficacy data continue to be collected
Submission for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) planned for soon after the required safety milestone is achieved, which is currently expected to occur in the third week of November
Clinical trial to continue through to final analysis at 164 confirmed cases in order to collect further data and characterize the vaccine candidate’s performance against other study endpoints
NEW YORK & MAINZ, GERMANY–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced their mRNA-based vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, against SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated evidence of efficacy against COVID-19 in participants without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on the first interim efficacy analysis conducted on November 8, 2020 by an external, independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) from the Phase 3 clinical study.
After discussion with the FDA, the companies recently elected to drop the 32-case interim analysis and conduct the first interim analysis at a minimum of 62 cases. Upon the conclusion of those discussions, the evaluable case count reached 94 and the DMC performed its first analysis on all cases. The case split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo indicates a vaccine efficacy rate above 90%, at 7 days after the second dose. This means that protection is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the vaccination, which consists of a 2-dose schedule. As the study continues, the final vaccine efficacy percentage may vary. The DMC has not reported any serious safety concerns and recommends that the study continue to collect additional safety and efficacy data as planned. The data will be discussed with regulatory authorities worldwide.
“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO. “We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen. With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”After discussion with the FDA, the companies recently elected to drop the 32-case interim analysis and conduct the first interim analysis at a minimum of 62 cases. Upon the conclusion of those discussions, the evaluable case count reached 94 and the DMC performed its first analysis on all cases. The case split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo indicates a vaccine efficacy rate above 90%, at 7 days after the second dose. This means that protection is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the vaccination, which consists of a 2-dose schedule. As the study continues, the final vaccine efficacy percentage may vary. The DMC has not reported any serious safety concerns and recommends that the study continue to collect additional safety and efficacy data as planned. The data will be discussed with regulatory authorities worldwide.
“I want to thank the thousands of people who volunteered to participate in the clinical trial, our academic collaborators and investigators at the study sites, and our colleagues and collaborators around the world who are dedicating their time to this crucial endeavor,” added Bourla. “We could not have come this far without the tremendous commitment of everyone involved.”
“The first interim analysis of our global Phase 3 study provides evidence that a vaccine may effectively prevent COVID-19. This is a victory for innovation, science and a global collaborative effort,” said Prof. Ugur Sahin, BioNTech co-founder and CEO. “When we embarked on this journey 10 months ago this is what we aspired to achieve. Especially today, while we are all in the midst of a second wave and many of us in lockdown, we appreciate even more how important this milestone is on our path towards ending this pandemic and for all of us to regain a sense of normality. We will continue to collect further data as the trial continues to enroll for a final analysis planned when a total of 164 confirmed COVID-19 cases have accrued. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to make this important achievement possible.”
The Phase 3 clinical trial of BNT162b2 began on July 27 and has enrolled 43,538 participants to date, 38,955 of whom have received a second dose of the vaccine candidate as of November 8, 2020. Approximately 42% of global participants and 30% of U.S. participants have racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds. The trial is continuing to enroll and is expected to continue through the final analysis when a total of 164 confirmed COVID-19 cases have accrued. The study also will evaluate the potential for the vaccine candidate to provide protection against COVID-19 in those who have had prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2, as well as vaccine prevention against severe COVID-19 disease. In addition to the primary efficacy endpoints evaluating confirmed COVID-19 cases accruing from 7 days after the second dose, the final analysis now will include, with the approval of the FDA, new secondary endpoints evaluating efficacy based on cases accruing 14 days after the second dose as well. The companies believe that the addition of these secondary endpoints will help align data across all COVID-19 vaccine studies and allow for cross-trial learnings and comparisons between these novel vaccine platforms. The companies have posted an updated version of the study protocol at https://www.pfizer.com/science/coronavirus.
Pfizer and BioNTech are continuing to accumulate safety data and currently estimate that a median of two months of safety data following the second (and final) dose of the vaccine candidate – the amount of safety data specified by the FDA in its guidance for potential Emergency Use Authorization – will be available by the third week of November. Additionally, participants will continue to be monitored for long-term protection and safety for an additional two years after their second dose.
Along with the efficacy data generated from the clinical trial, Pfizer and BioNTech are working to prepare the necessary safety and manufacturing data to submit to the FDA to demonstrate the safety and quality of the vaccine product produced.
Based on current projections we expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
Pfizer and BioNTech plan to submit data from the full Phase 3 trial for scientific peer-review publication.