NEJM releases ‘impressive’ peer-reviewed data for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Peer-reviewed data for Pfizer Inc.’s BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate was published today by the New England Journal of Medicine, confirming its safety and efficacy.

The study’s authors concluded that a two-dose regimen of BNT162b2 conferred 95% protection against COVID-19 in individuals 16 years of age or older, with safety over a median of two months similar to that of other viral vaccines.

In an editorial accompanying the draft abstract, a team of NEJM editors called the data “impressive,” with a “remarkable level of safety and efficacy,” writing, “What appears to be a dramatic success for vaccination holds the promise of saving uncounted lives and giving us a pathway out of what has been a global disaster.”