Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine: All you need to know

NEW DELHI: Pfizer is in talks with the Indian government over supplies of its Covid-19 vaccine, the US drugmaker said on Tuesday, as New Delhi scrambles to bridge shortfalls, having pledged to fast-track approvals for overseas vaccines.

"Pfizer remains committed to continuing our engagement with the government of India towards making the

Pfizer BioNTech

Covid-19 vaccine available for use in the country," a spokesperson said. Pfizer, which produces the vaccine with German partner

BioNTech SE

, reiterated that it would supply doses only through government contracts.

Here is all you want to know about this Covid vaccine:

1. What is Pfizer Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drugmakers to show successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine.
2. Pfizer vaccine technologyThe Pfizer and

   BioNTech vaccine

   uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which relies on synthetic genes that can be generated and manufactured in weeks, and produced at scale more rapidly than conventional vaccines. Unlike traditional vaccines, which work by training the body to recognise and kill proteins produced by pathogens, mRNA tricks the patient's immune system to produce viral proteins itself. The proteins are harmless, but sufficient to provoke a robust immune response.
3. Is Pfizer vaccine safeWHO granted the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine EUL on 31 December 2020. WHO has thoroughly assessed the quality, safety, and efficacy of the vaccine and has recommended its use for persons above the age of 16.The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety, a group of experts that provides independent and authoritative guidance to WHO on the topic of safe vaccine use, receives and assesses reports of suspected safety events of potentially international impact.
4. How efficacious is the vaccine?The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 has an efficacy of 95% against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection.
5. Temprature storage requirements:Asked about the vaccine's ultra-low temperature storage requirements - minus 70 degrees Celsius (-90 F) . Pfizer said the company could deliver the shot to vaccination centers using its specially designed, temperature-controlled thermal shippers.It said doses could be stored in ultra-low-temperature freezers for up to six months, in the shippers for up to 30 days by refilling them with dry ice every five days, or in common refrigeration and freezer units for five days.

Source: Agencies/WHO
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