Maine CDC tackles vaccine challenges as Pfizer announces promising results

With the federal government possibly only weeks away from approving a coronavirus vaccine, Maine health officials are preparing to get the shots delivered, stored at hospitals and administered to those who will first receive the vaccine.

Pfizer Inc. officials said on Monday that a potential coronavirus vaccine is showing great promise, and has a potential 90 percent effectiveness rate according to late-stage research trials. A 90 percent effectiveness rate would be much better than annual influenza shots – which have a typical effectiveness range of between 40 and 60 percent – and more in line with highly effective childhood vaccinations, such as for varicella, polio and measles.

For Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the next step would be a Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization – perhaps as soon as late November – followed by manufacturing 50 million doses by the end of 2020. The federal government signed an agreement with Pfizer this summer for the pharmaceutical company to distribute its first 100 million doses in the United States. Read more

Related Posts

Maine’s life sciences sector growth could outpace other industries

Maine’s $2.3 billion life sciences sector, which employed close to 10,000 people in 2024, will outpace the growth of many other...

13 January 2025

IDEXX gets wiggle room to buy back more shares

IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (Nasdaq: IDXX), a Westbrook-based maker of veterinary diagnostics and software, has the green light from its board of...

10 December 2024

Maine’s first accredited lab for PFAS testing is expanding to meet demand

NORRIDGEWOCK, Maine — This week, the Biden administration moved to prevent dangerous “forever chemicals” from being released onto the market after a less...

6 December 2024