Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has released further analysis concerning its COVID-19 vaccine from its Phase 3 clinical trial. According to the conclusive results from the 44,000-person study, the vaccine candidate demonstrated 95% efficacy. This represents an improvement over Pfizer’s earlier reported effectiveness of 90%, which was based on an initial assessment of the Phase 3 trial data.

These findings coincide with preliminary reports from Moderna regarding their own Phase 3 trial, indicating a 94.5% effectiveness rate for their vaccine candidate. The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine utilizes mRNA technology, mirroring that of Moderna’s, and current data suggests a comparable level of efficacy between the two – at least initially, considering the limited number of cases analyzed and the fact that the results are still awaiting evaluation by the scientific community.

Pfizer’s final data analysis reveals that, of a total of 170 confirmed COVID-19 cases among the 44,000 study participants, 162 occurred in the placebo group, while just eight were observed in those who received the vaccine. The company also noted that nine of ten severe cases among infected individuals were within the placebo group, indicating that the vaccine, even when not preventing infection entirely, appears to lessen the disease’s severity.

These results are expected to support Pfizer’s application for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), allowing for early vaccine distribution while full approval is pending. The company announced earlier this week that it has gathered two months of follow-up data from trial participants, a necessary requirement for the EUA. Pfizer is actively pursuing this authorization and anticipates submitting the request “within days.” The company plans to begin scaling up vaccine production later this year, aiming for a capacity of up to 1.3 billion doses by the following year.