Many problems with Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine – Nov 9, 2020

Claims a 90% success rate in placebo controlled trial, based on 164 people getting COVID-19
This apparently means that of those getting injected who got infected

• 16 (10% of 164) of the infected people had gotten the vaccine
• 145 (90% of 164) of the infected people had gotten the placebo

Problems

1. Vaccine requires 2nd shot 3 weeks after the first
2. Trial only considered people who got symptoms and then tested positive for COVID-19
   • A vaccinated person could perhaps be more likely to have asymptomatic infection and spread to other people
3. Do Not know if vaccine reduces COVID-19 severity or death
4. Vaccine must be stored at extremely cold temperatures (-94 degrees)
   • “There’s no historical precedent for us maintaining vaccines on dry ice in the United States. That’s never happened,”
5. Many of the people excluded by the trial had conditions associated with low vitamin D
   • expect that the results can be different when the vaccines are injected into people with low vitamin D levels
6. People getting vaccination might have more serious infections than people getting placebo
   • Press release did not mention (antibody-dependent enhancement)
7. No indication how many of the COVId-19 strains it protects against
   • Example: Vaccination might provide protection against strains A, B, C but much less protction against D, E, or F

References

• Fast Company
• BBC
• StatNews
• NYT
• Pfizer Press Release
• Cost of the 2 shots: $40 US, $20 US Medicare, $10 developing nations