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Pfizer Inc. cheered investors Tuesday with final data from a late-stage trial of its COVID-19 antiviral, that found it reduced the risk of hospitalization or death in high-risk adults by 89% if given shortly after the onset of symptoms, confirming the first set of data released last month.
The antiviral, named paxlovid, is also effective in dealing with the new omicron variant in lab studies, Pfizer
PFE,
said, easing some of the concerns about omicron, which appears to be more transmissible than other variants and offers some resistance to existing vaccines. For now, it remains unclear whether the new variant is more lethal than previous ones, as it spreads in South Africa and Europe and is expected to become the dominant strain in the U.S. in the coming weeks.
“Emerging variants of concern, like omicron, have exacerbated the need for accessible treatment options for those who contract the virus, and we are confident that, if authorized or approved, this potential treatment could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic,” Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said in a statement.
Separately, a large-scale analysis of omicron in South Africa that was released Tuesday found that the two-dose vaccine developed by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE
BNTX,
provides 33% protection against infection but 70% protection against hospitalization, as the Associated Press reported.
The analysis was based on more than 211,000 positive COVID-19 test results, 41% from adults who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. About 78,000 of these positive COVID-19 test results between Nov. 15 and Dec. 7 were attributed to omicron infections. The study was carried out by Discovery Health, South Africa’s largest private health insurer, and the South African Medical Research Council.
The study has been carried out in the weeks since omicron was first announced in November by scientists in South Africa and Botswana. The researchers emphasized that its findings are preliminary and not peer reviewed.
“The omicron-driven fourth wave has a significantly steeper trajectory of new infections relative to prior waves. National data show an exponential increase in both new infections and test positivity rates during the first three weeks of this wave, indicating a highly transmissible variant with rapid community spread of infection,” said Discovery Health Chief Executive Dr. Ryan Noach.
Vaccine expert Professor Shabir Mahdi of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg said one reason South African cases of omicron appear milder than the delta variant may be due to previous waves of COVID that have left South Africans better protected than others.
In an interview with the Global Health Crisis Coordination Center, Mahdi said that means that South Africa’s experience may not be replicated elsewhere.
The New York Times highlighted the first person in the U.S. to receive a COVID vaccine a full year ago. Sandra Lindsay, director of critical care nursing at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, told the paper she would do it all over, as she lamented that so many Americans remain unvaccinated.
“I was hoping for a faster sprint across the finish line, and we have not seen that,” she said. “We have more work to do here in the U.S., although we’ve made tremendous progress. Sixty percent is progress.”
The U.S. is still averaging almost 1,300 deaths a day from COVID, according to a Times tracker, and cases and hospitalizations are rising. On Tuesday, the U.S. passed 50 million confirmed cases of COVID.
Read: ‘The days you were considered fully vaccinated with two shots are going to be a thing of the past’
New Hampshire remains the state with the highest number of new cases, measured on a per-capita basis. More patients are in hospitals there with COVID than at any other time during the pandemic.
Elsewhere, California joined other states with indoor mask mandates, including Washington, Oregon, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, Hawaii and New York, with a new rule that comes into effect on Wednesday, the AP reported. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration announced the mandate will last until Jan. 15. The order comes as the per-capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California has jumped 47% in the past two weeks.
China recorded its second case of the omicron variant on Tuesday, the South China Morning Post reported. The second case was found in the southern city of Guangzhou after the first was detected in the northern city of Tianjin.
In the UK, Dr. Paul Burton, chief medical officer at Moderna
MRNA,
told a parliamentary committee that the omicron variant is still severe and could circulate with the delta variant for some time, the Guardian reported.
“The idea it will push Delta out of the way and take over may occur in the future, but I think in the coming months these two viruses are going to co-exist, and omicron, which I would maintain is actually a severe disease, will now infect people on a background of very, very strong Delta pressure,” he said.
India is struggling to export its surplus of COVID-19 vaccines due to logistical hurdles, vaccine producer the Serum Institute of India (SII) and a government official said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
“All over the world, there is enough supply but it is getting the jabs in arms, which will take some time,” SII Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla told a virtual conference organized by the Confederation of India Industry.
Read now: Most employers say they won’t require vaccines if courts block Biden’s mandate
Latest tallies
The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness climbed above 270.9 million on Tuesday, while the death toll edged above 5.31 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. continues to lead the world after passing 50 million cases and 798,713 deaths.
India is second by cases after the U.S. at 34.7 million and has suffered 475,888 deaths. Brazil has second highest death toll at 616,457 and 22.2 million cases. In Europe, Russia has the most fatalities at 286,023 deaths, followed by the U.K. at 146,935.
China, where the virus was first discovered late in 2019, has had 112,345 confirmed cases and 4,809 deaths, according to its official numbers, which are widely held to be massively understated.
