Dundee professor hails potential ‘game-changer’ with Pfizer trial success

A Dundee professor has hailed the possibility of a coronavirus vaccine coming from Pfizer’s trials as a “massive moment in the pandemic”.

Professor James Chalmers, who has been heavily involved in the local response to Covid-19, also described the development as a “game-changer”.

The trials have included tens of thousands of people and, with a reported 90% effective rate, sparked hope that a vaccine is within sight.

Prof Chalmers tweeted: “If this is as good as advertised when the full data is released, this is a massive moment in the pandemic, be tter than many expected and potentially the gamechanger we have been waiting for.”

He later added: “It’s a great day for science, with all the caveats of waiting for the full data, but amid all the congratulations to Pfizer I think we should take a moment to thank 43,500 amazing people that took an experimental vaccine to make this happen.”

Prof Chalmers, who is a consultant respirator y physician, has been directly working with coronavirus patients at Ninewells Hospital.

A resident of Perth, he is also professor of respiratory research at Dundee University.

The potential vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech needs to be stored at -80C, which has raised some concerns for developing countries’ ability to rollout the drug.

Prof Chalmers did remark that this was “unfortunate” when asked about it on social media.

He has been careful not to raise hopes in the past over potential vaccines.

In July, he told the Sunday Post it was unlikely a vaccine would be ready and rolled out across Scotland by the end of the year when hopes of one emerged from trials in Oxford.