🔴Pfizer’s mRNA flu jab flops
ANALYSIS: Pfizer’s mRNA flu shot was supposed to revive confidence in the platform. Instead, its own trial results reinforce the view that mRNA is still nowhere near ready for prime time.
FULL STORY 👇👇
@RobertKennedyJr @VPrasadMDMPH
@newstart_2024 @RobSchneider
ANALYSIS: Pfizer’s mRNA flu shot was supposed to revive confidence in the platform. Instead, its own trial results reinforce the view that mRNA is still nowhere near ready for prime time.
FULL STORY 👇👇
@RobertKennedyJr @VPrasadMDMPH
@newstart_2024 @RobSchneider
A major new trial of @pfizer's mRNA flu shot has landed — and despite flattering headlines, it is nowhere near the breakthrough the company hoped for.
The phase 3 study, published in the @NEJM
-57 cases of influenza-like illness in the mRNA group versus 87 in the comparator group (traditional flu shot, not saline placebo), producing a relative efficacy of 35%.
The absolute difference was tiny: 0.63% of the mRNA group developed symptoms compared with 0.95% of those who received the traditional vaccine.
(0.32% abs difference)
NNV: >300 people would need to be vaccinated to prevent a single mild, self-limiting illness
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
The phase 3 study, published in the @NEJM
-57 cases of influenza-like illness in the mRNA group versus 87 in the comparator group (traditional flu shot, not saline placebo), producing a relative efficacy of 35%.
The absolute difference was tiny: 0.63% of the mRNA group developed symptoms compared with 0.95% of those who received the traditional vaccine.
(0.32% abs difference)
NNV: >300 people would need to be vaccinated to prevent a single mild, self-limiting illness
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
The trial’s primary efficacy claim came mostly from cases adjudicated by @pfizer's own central laboratory using Pfizer’s own lab assay — the same structure used in the company’s early Covid trials.
Put simply, it's a manufacturer-funded trial, written largely by Pfizer employees & finds its best efficacy in the endpoint that requires all samples to be shipped to a Pfizer-run central lab for adjudication.
@IamBrookJackson @Jikkyleaks
Put simply, it's a manufacturer-funded trial, written largely by Pfizer employees & finds its best efficacy in the endpoint that requires all samples to be shipped to a Pfizer-run central lab for adjudication.
@IamBrookJackson @Jikkyleaks
Pfizer’s trial is nowhere near the standard @US_FDA has recently said it intends to enforce for updated mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.
In May 2025, @VPrasadMDMPH & @DrMakaryFDA wrote in @NEJM that, for healthy people, the agency now expects randomised trials using a saline placebo and measuring real clinical outcomes — symptomatic illness, hospitalisation and death — before granting full approval to Covid-19 mRNA vaccines. nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
In May 2025, @VPrasadMDMPH & @DrMakaryFDA wrote in @NEJM that, for healthy people, the agency now expects randomised trials using a saline placebo and measuring real clinical outcomes — symptomatic illness, hospitalisation and death — before granting full approval to Covid-19 mRNA vaccines. nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
SAFETY: Systemic symptoms — fever, aches, fatigue — were dramatically higher: 66% in the mRNA group versus 49% in the conventional vaccine group.
For every 1 mild flu-like illness the mRNA vaccine prevents, it causes >50 others to experience systemic flu-like symptoms. That is not a trade-off — it is an inversion.
For every 1 mild flu-like illness the mRNA vaccine prevents, it causes >50 others to experience systemic flu-like symptoms. That is not a trade-off — it is an inversion.
Pfizer’s trial highlights why regulators may need to reject mRNA respiratory-vaccine development altogether.
FULL ANALYSIS: 👇👇
@KLVeritas @MdBreathe blog.maryannedemasi.com/p/pfizers-mrna…
FULL ANALYSIS: 👇👇
@KLVeritas @MdBreathe blog.maryannedemasi.com/p/pfizers-mrna…
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