from Hacker News

Covid-19 vaccine candidate is 90% effective, says manufacturer

by j4mie on 11/9/20, 11:53 AM with 6 comments

  • by Jallal on 11/9/20, 12:21 PM

    I'm not sure to understand what 90% means in this context.

    We know that more than 80% of the infected people do not show any symptoms, and that around 0.5% (mostly elders) die from COVID.

    Do the 90% addresses the death rate of those 0.5% ?

  • by acqq on 11/9/20, 12:49 PM

    But also:

    https://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/pfizer-biontech-n...

    "Analysts specifically cast doubt on Pfizer and BioNTech's rollout plans given the stringent cold-storage needs for their candidate, which must be kept at a frigid -94° Fahrenheit (-70° Celsius), and will last for only 24 hours at refrigerated temps between 35.6°F and 46.4°F (2°-8°C).

    By contrast, most protein subunit vaccines—the type being developed for COVID-19 by Sanofi and Novavax, among others—can be held at refrigerated temps for months, analysts said."

  • by micropoet on 11/9/20, 1:10 PM

    Just after election result!