What Pfizer's CEO Told Us About the Company's COVID-19 Vaccine
My colleague Alice Park broke big news today: Pfizer has officially asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency-use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine, making it the first pharma company to do so.
In an exclusive interview with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Alice got the behind-the-scenes details on the company's announcement. Here are four big takeaways from their conversation:
The technology underpinning Pfizer's vaccine could change vaccine development more broadly. Before the pandemic struck, the company was experimenting with an influenza vaccine using the genetic material mRNA, then pivoted to apply the technique to the novel coronavirus. No previously-approved infectious disease vaccines use mRNA, but promising results from Pfizer and fellow pharmaceutical company Moderna (which also used mRNA in its COVID-19 vaccine candidate) suggests it could be used to create vaccines for other diseases, too.
The company is “on track” to deliver 50 million doses of the vaccine this year, Bourla said, and 1.3 billion in 2021, assuming the FDA signs off. Bourla didn’t speculate on when the FDA may announce its decision, but Alice notes that it will likely do so soon, given both the urgency of the situation and the vaccine’s reported efficacy of nearly 95%.
Pfizer will use a sliding price scale for its vaccine. Assuming the shot gets approved, Bourla said Pfizer will offer it on a not-for-profit basis in lower-income countries, but will charge $19.50 in developed countries. However, people probably won’t have to swipe their credit card when it comes time to get their shot. “We believe the price allows governments all over the world to give the vaccine free to their citizens,” Bourla said.
Bourla pushed back on the idea that political pressure guided development. Despite earlier concerns that COVID-19 vaccines would be rushed through the approval process for political gains, Bourla said “the only pressure we feel at Pfizer is the pressure 7 billion people around the world are giving us for a solution to this pandemic.”
There is one more important thing to note, as Alice does in another story published today: While Pfizer’s vaccine news is certainly cause for optimism, it does not mean the pandemic is over. Doses won’t be available to the general public for months, and even once they are, it will take a while to reach the level of protection required to stop the virus. We may be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we haven’t reached it yet.
Living through the COVID-19 pandemic is hard. TIME's new advice column is here to help, with expert-guided answers to your most pressing coronavirus questions. Need help breaking the news that you won't be home for the holidays? Deciding if that dinner party is safe to attend? Fighting through your quarantine fatigue? Our health reporters will consult experts who can help find a safe and practical solution. Send us your pandemic dilemmas at covidquestions@time.com.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
The Global Situation
More than 56 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 1.3 million people have died. Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
On Nov. 19, there were 650,433 new cases and 11,001 new deaths confirmed globally. Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here is every country with over 800,000 confirmed cases:
The antiviral drug remdesivir was one of the first promising treatments for COVID-19. But in guidance released yesterday, the World Health Organization recommended against using it to treat hospitalized coronavirus patients, based on a research review that found it did not substantially improve survival. The guidance stopped short of calling remdesivir ineffective, leaving the door open for a reversal.
More than 300 Iranian cities and towns will go back under lockdown tomorrow, the Wall Street Journalreports. Non-essential businesses will close, schools and universities will shift to remote learning and most government employees will work from home. Though the lockdowns bring on fresh concerns for Iran’s battered economy, officials called them a necessary move to combat the virus; Iran has reported 90,000 new infections over the past week.
Officials said an abrupt six-day lockdown order in South Australia this month was triggered by one man lying to contact tracers. At first, the man said he was exposed to the virus while simply buying a pizza, leading officials to believe the strain was highly contagious and prompting them to issue stay-at-home orders. In fact, the man had worked several shifts at the pizza parlor with someone else infected by the virus. The lockdown measures were lifted after the man came clean.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. had recorded more than 11.7 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 252,500 people have died. Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
On Nov. 19, there were 187,833 new cases and 2,015 new deaths confirmed in the U.S. Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
The U.S. yesterday set yet another record for new diagnoses of coronavirus: 187,833 cases nationwide. More than 80,000 people in the U.S. are now hospitalized due to the virus, and more than 2,000 people died from it yesterday alone. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 250,000 people in the U.S. have died because of COVID-19. (You can get a better understanding of that horrific toll with this sobering Washington Postmap.)
With U.S. senators already on Thanksgiving break and members of the House of Representatives expected to leave Washington today, the chances of passing a new coronavirus relief bill this year look slim to none, my colleague Alana Abramson writes. Both Democrats and Republicans have said they want to pass another aid package, but they have been unable to reach a compromise regarding the size and scope of such a package.
Lawmakers’ vacations coincide with an announcement from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said yesterday he does not plan to extend several pandemic-related emergency lending programs in the new year, including one that issues loans to mid-sized businesses. Mnuchin also asked the Federal Reserve to return any unspent money earmarked for those programs, a move that would make it more difficult for President-elect Joe Biden to quickly restart the initiatives when he takes office.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Nov. 20, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
COVID-19 Losses Are Turning People Against Trump
As TIME’s Abigail Abrams reports, the grief of losing loved ones to COVID-19 has turned some Americans against Trump—and made them into unlikely activists. Read more here.
The Groups That Can Help Biden Control the Pandemic
In a TIME100 Talk, former Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen argues that President-elect Biden needs support from three key groups to control the pandemic: economists, religious leaders and prominent Republicans. Read more here.
Quarantine Lessons Learned
With cases soaring once again and states beginning to roll out new lockdown measures, Slate staffers put together a list of lessons learned from their first round of quarantine. Among them: You don’t need to disinfect everything, and it’s okay to turn down some of those Zoom hangs. Read more here.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
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