A historic day for science

If the application is approved, a vaccine with a 95% declared efficacy can be used in mid-late December, Pfizer expects. Earlier, experts warned of possible problems with the drug's distribution.

American company Pfizer and German BioNTech have applied for their coronavirus vaccine in the USA.

The CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla said: "This is a historic day for science and for each of us. It has only been 248 days since we announced our plans to work with BioNTech".

In early November, BioNTech and Pfizer reported that the BNT162b2 vaccine they are developing has shown more than 90% success in trials. Later on, the companies increased their efficiency rating to 95%.

According to Pfizer, the vaccine was highly effective in all groups regardless of age, gender or race. In particular, for people over 65 years of age, the company estimates that the vaccine was 94% effective. At the same time, older people could tolerate the vaccination more easily and less often complained about side effects, added to Pfizer.

After the company announced the high efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine, the European Union decided to buy 300 million doses of the vaccine. Reuters estimates that the EU could pay €4.6 billion for it at a price of €15.5 ($18.34) per dose. The European Commission representative and Pfizer herself did not disclose the cost of the drug to the agency.

Countries that are waiting to receive Pfizer vaccine will have to build infrastructure from scratch to transport, store and defrost it, Bloomberg said. "We need huge investments and coordination, which only rich countries have, and even they probably only have for the population of large cities", writes the agency.

However, even if countries are able to build the necessary infrastructure, there is still the question of delivering a specific patient especially in areas that are difficult to access. As a result, countries will have to decide whether they are ready for the cost or would rather wait until the end of a vaccine trial that can be stored at minus 20 degrees, Bloomberg says.