Texas one of 4 states in Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine pilot program. What does that mean?

Drugmaker Pfizer announced Monday it has chosen Texas to be a part of a pilot program to test distribution of its COVID-19 vaccine.

Rhode Island, Tennessee and New Mexico are also a part of the program, Pfizer said. The states will not receive the vaccine doses earlier than other states, but they will be supported by the company.

“Pfizer announced this pilot program to help better support the states’ planning, deployment and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate,” the drugmaker said in a statement. “Learnings from this program will be adapted for usage across other states to help them create effective immunization programs for this vaccine.”

Texas and the other states were chosen for the program “because of their differences in overall size, diversity of populations and immunization infrastructure, Pfizer said.

The vaccine candidate was “more than 90% effective” among trial participants who were not known to have previously been infected with the coronavirus, the company said of its first “interim analysis.”

Pfizer says it plans to submit a request for Emergency Use Authorization with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the vaccine candidate soon after a “required safety milestone is achieved,” McClatchy News reported.

It’s not yet known how long the vaccine can offer protection, but Pfizer found no “serious safety concerns” in its study, McClatchy News reported.

Pfizer expects it will be able to produce 50 million COVID-19 vaccine doses this year and 1.3 billion in 2021.

“This pilot program and our collaboration with U.S. and state officials will help us prepare for broader vaccine deployment in the near future, subject to authorization or approval, as we work to address this urgent public health need,” said Angela Hwang, Pfizer Bio Group President “We are hopeful that results from this vaccine delivery pilot will serve as the model for other U.S.states and international governments, as they prepare to implement effective COVID-19 vaccine programs.”

Also on Monday, drugmaker Moderna said early results for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate show it is 94.5% effective, McClatchy News reported. Moderna also plans to submit an Emergency Use Authorization within weeks, according to a news release.

Moderna’s candidate can be stored at a household freezer temperature of 25 degrees Fahrenheit, while Pfizer requires a -70 degree Fahrenheit temperature, the companies said.

A third of U.S. states are already purchasing “ultra cold storage equipment” for the vaccines, Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, told Reuters last week.

This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 9:33 AM with the headline "Texas one of 4 states in Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine pilot program. What does that mean?."