--- title: "New Results: First COVID Vaccine Even Better Than Scientists Thought" description: "Pfizer just announced its coronavirus vaccine is 95 percent effective with no serious side effects — even more effective than previously thought." date: "2020-11-18" modified: "2020-11-18" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/pfizer-covid-vaccine-95-percent-effective" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "pfizer" - "vaccine" --- # New Results: First COVID Vaccine Even Better Than Scientists Thought ![Pfizer just announced its coronavirus vaccine is 95 percent effective with no serious side effects — even more effective than previously thought.]() *\Image: NIAID\* Pharmaceutical company Pfizer just announced that its coronavirus vaccine [is 95 percent effective](), with no serious side effects — an improvement over their [already promising preliminary results]() released earlier this month. Pfizer [claims]()[ that]() the vaccine was 94 percent effective in older adults, the demographic that's been hardest hit by COVID-19. The news comes after Pfizer had previously announced that its vaccine was 90.5 percent effective according to preliminary test results released on November 9. A separate pharmaceutical company, Moderna, recently said that its own coronavirus vaccine was [94.5 percent effective]() — meaning the two vaccines appear to be nearly identical in their efficacy. Side effects were minimal in the trial, according to Pfizer, with 3.8 percent of participants reporting fatigue after the second dose and two percent reporting a headache. Pfizer, alongside German partner BioNTech, will now apply for emergency authorization "within days" from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company said if FDA authorization comes through in time, 50 million doses could be made available before the end of the year. 1.3 billion by the end of 2021. "The study results mark an important step in this historic eight-month journey to bring forward a vaccine capable of helping to end this devastating pandemic," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. The US will only get around 12.5 million doses from the company's earliest supplies by the end of this year. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()