First, biotech firm Moderna announced 94.5 percent efficacy of its vaccine candidate in preventing COVID-19. The US-based firm shared the preliminary results from its ongoing phase 3 study on Monday, November 16.
Two days later, that is on Wednesday, November 18, US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German research partner Biotech shared the final results of their phase 3 trials. The companies claimed their vaccine is 95 percent effective in preventing COVID-19. They plan to apply for regulatory approval in the US in the upcoming days.
These back-to-back developments sent the worldwide stock markets soaring. Jubilant investors indulged in massive sell-off and shifted to riskier assets.
The fact is, administering the vaccine in developing and emerging economies, where billions of people need to be immunized, is a mammoth task.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have claimed that their first batch of vaccines will be rolled out by 2020 end.
But in reality, the wait for COVID vaccine doses may easily go beyond early 2021 (March-April).
