Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is 98% effective – expert

Natalia Vynohrad, an epidemiologist at Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, said this at a press conference at Ukrinform.

"In the beginning, the vaccine was 95% effective; the real effectiveness in the countries that use it totals 98%. Thus, the rate is higher, but it is typical for other vaccines as well," said Vynohrad.

The epidemiologist stressed that this vaccine uses a new technology. Thus, unlike other vaccines, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine does not contain antigen that triggers an immune response. "This is genetic information that will trigger the synthesis of antigen in a vaccinated person, to which antibodies are formed," Vynohrad explained.

According to her, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is able to respond quickly to mutations that occur in the coronavirus. She also said that the adverse events that occurred after the use of this vaccine did not differ from those specified by the manufacturer.

As reported by Ukrinform, on April 18, 1,453 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ukraine. In total, 450,647 people have been vaccinated since the beginning of the vaccination campaign. In particular, people vaccinated with the first dose – 450,645, fully vaccinated people (received two doses) – 5. Ukraine began vaccinating the population against coronavirus on February 24.

On February 23, a batch of 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 Covishield vaccine, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, arrived in Ukraine.

The first batch of a COVID-19 vaccine from China's Sinovac Biotech vaccine was delivered in Ukraine on March 25, and its use began on April 13.

On April 16, Ukraine received the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

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