Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Science and Technology and a renowned scientist of Pakistan, Dr. Atta ur Rahman revealed that coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNtech is not suitable for Pakistan.
Dr. Atta claims that the Pfizer vaccine is not suitable for the country, and it’s too early to celebrate the initial trial results.
While talking to a local news agency, Dr. Atta said that he is vigilant as Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine will have to deal with five main tests before it becomes widely available.
One of the main reasons for worry about the Pfizer vaccine is that U.S Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) seal is not yet been granted, whereas the Food and Drug Administration usually approves a drug in two months.
The second point is the very difficult task for underdeveloped countries which is keeping the vaccine at -80°C. Pakistan as a third world country having billions in debt cannot afford to bear this burden.
Another main point raised by Dr. Atta is that Pfizer has not revealed the period for which its vaccine provides immunity against COVID-19.
Another major obstacle is the production of Pfizer vaccine at a maximum level and the fifth one is reasonable pricing and uniform accessibility all over the world.
Moreover, Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman also warned that the company needs at least another year to deal with all these challenges.
Dr Rehman also added that 11 other vaccines, apart from the Pfizer one, are in phase 3 clinical trials.
“There are 12 company’s who’s vaccine are in phase 3 of clinical trial and Pfizer was one of them. And Chinese companies are ahead,” said Dr Rehman.
This week Pfizer announced that the initial results of Phase-III experimental trials of its COVID-19 vaccine provide 90 percent protection against the coronavirus without leaving any side effects. The company developed the COVID-19 vaccine with the collaboration of BioNTech.
Image source
