Pfizer says its Covid-19 vaccine is 90 percent effective – latest updates

Monday, November 9, 2020

Covid-19 drug 90 percent effective in Phase 3 trial – Pfizer

A vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 infections in ongoing Phase 3 trials, the companies have announced.

Protection in patients was achieved seven days after the second of two doses, and 28 days after the first, according to preliminary findings released on Monday. 

"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," Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

"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 are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development programme at a time when the world needs it most," Bourla added.

Global market stocks hit record highs on vaccine progress

Wall Street has followed world equity indexes to record levels and crude prices have surged, as promising developments toward a coronavirus vaccine and the prospect of improved trade relations under President-elect Joe Biden gave a jolt to investors risk appetite.

All major US stock indexes touched all-time highs and crude prices jumped more than 10 percent.

Pfizer Inc said its vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech SE, was more than 90 percent effective in preventing infection, marking the first successful data from a large-scale clinical trial.

Joe Biden assembles pandemic task force 

President-elect Joe Biden has named the members of a team of public health and science experts to develop a blueprint for fighting the coronavirus.

Biden conferred in Delaware by video link with the 13-member task force that he named, headed by former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Da vid Kessler and Yale University healthcare equity expert Marcella Nunez-Smith.

Turkey reports over 2,500 new cases

Turkey has registered 2,576 more novel coronavirus patients over the past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry data.

The country's patient tally now stands at 396,831, the ministry said.

A further 2,047 patients recovered from the disease over the past day, raising the total to 340,286, while the death toll rose by 85 to hit 10,972.

Russia reports record high of 21,798 new cases

Russia has reported a record high of 21,798 new coronavirus infections, including 6,897 in the capital Moscow, bringing the national tally to 1,796,132.

Authorities also reported 256 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the official death toll to 30,793.

Iran reports record daily rise of 10,463 cases

Iran's health ministry has reported a daily jump of 10,463 coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the Middle East's worst-affected country's total cases to 692,949.

Ministry's spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said 458 people had died in the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 38,749.

Malaysia reports 972 new cases, eight deaths

Malaysia's health ministry has reported 972 new coronavirus cases, raising the total to 41,181 infections.

The Southeast Asian country also recorded eight new deaths, taking the total number of fatalities from the pandemic to 294.

Philippines reports 108 more deaths, highest toll in over two weeks

The Philippines reported 108 new deaths from Covid-19, the highest daily death toll since October 23, taking total fatalities to 7,647, the country's health ministry said.

The Department of Health also reported 2,058 new coronavirus infections, taking the total to 398,449, the second highest number in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia reports 2,853 new infections, 75 more deaths

Indonesia has reported 2,853 new coronavirus infections, taking the total number of cases to 440,569, data from the country's Covid-19 task force showed.
It also reported 75 more deaths, taking total fatalities to 14,689. Overall, 372,266 people have recovered from the virus, it said.

Delhi records highest single-day virus cases

India has reported 45,903 new coronavirus cases, with its capital recording the highest single-day rise in infections since the pandemic began.

The Health Ministry also reported 490 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities in the country to 126,611.

New Delhi's increase of 7,745 cases comes during a recent surge the government has attributed to crowding in markets during the ongoing festive season, winter weather and high air pollution.

India has counted more than 8.5 million cases since the pandemic began, the second-highest total behind the US.

Germany's virus cases rise to 671,868

The number of confirmed virus cases in Germany has increased by 13,363 to 671,868.

The data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed that the country's death toll rose by 63 to 11,352. 

Utah governor declares state of emergency

The governor of the US state of Utah, Gary Herbert has declared a new state of emergency to address hospital overcrowding in response to weeks of stress on its hospital networks due to a surge of virus cases.

The governor said the entire state was being placed under a mask mandate until further notice and casual social gatherings were being limited to household-only for the next two weeks.

All extracurricular activities were being put on hold, he said.

The total number of coronavirus infections in the United States rose past 10 million late on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally.

Utah has had 132,621 total confirmed cases and 659 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began.

Sydney restricts New Year's Eve fireworks

New Year's Eve fireworks over Sydney Harbour will go ahead this year but will be shortened to just a few minutes and the city precinct will be restricted to those with restaurant, cafe and hotel bookings in order to limit the spread of the virus.

Prime harbourside spots, normally coveted by thousands of revellers to watch the traditional 12-minute pyrotechnic display, will be set aside for health workers who have been treating patients and firefighters.

Although Australia has for weeks recorded just daily single digit new cases of the virus, New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said crowd numbers will be limited for the event in areas that typically draw thousands of viewers.

Mexico's confirmed death toll surpasses 95,000

Mexico's health ministry reported on Sunday 5,887 additional coronavirus cases and 219 more deaths, bringing the official number of cases to 967,825 and the death toll to 95,027.

Health officials have said the real number of infections and deaths is likely significantly higher.

China reports 33 new cases vs 28 a day earlier

China reported 33 new Covid-19 cases on November 8, up from 28 cases a day earlier, the national health authority reported on Monday.

The National Health Commission said 32 of the cases were imported in people returning from overseas.

One of the cases was a local infection reported in Tianjin - a cold storage worker who had handled frozen pork from Germany. The city government is carrying out tests on some cold storage facilities and their staff.

The number of new asymptomatic cases fell to nine from 36 a day earlier, the commission said.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 infections in mainland China now stands at 86,245, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.

Brazil sees 128 new deaths, 10,554 new cases - government

Brazil on Sunday reported 128 new Covid-19 deaths and 10,554 new coronavirus cases, according to official data.

Since the start of the pandemic, 162,397 people have died in Brazil and more than 5.66 million have been infected with the virus, the data shows.