One chart shows how well Pfizer’s vaccine works

Hello,

Today in healthcare news: One chart shows just how well Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine works at preventing COVID-19, our most detailed look at AstraZeneca and Oxford’s vaccine data, and a Verily cofounder’s plan to address one of the most overlooked parts of caring for patients.

One striking chart shows just how well Pfizer’s vaccine works to prevent COVID-19 infections

• The Food and Drug Administration released data about Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday.
• The data suggests the company’s two-shot course works very well to prevent COVID-19 infections.
• One chart in the brief suggests that protection begins 14 days after a person’s first shot and gets much better after their second shot.

Read the full story from Hilary Brueck here>>

We just got our most-detailed look yet at the safety and effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. Here’s what you need to know.

• AstraZeneca is the first COVID-19 vaccine-maker to publish results from late-stage trials in a peer-reviewed journal.
• The results, published in the Lancet on Tuesday, suggest the vaccine’s efficacy is 70%, on average. The data confirmed preliminary results announced on November 23.
• The shot hasn’t been signed off by regulators, but the data has been submitted and is under review.

Read the full story from Dr. Catherine Schuster-Bruce here>>

A Verily cofounder's experience coordinating doctors after his dad's stroke inspired his new company addressing one of the most overlooked parts of caring for patients

• Story Health, a startup that wants to bridge the gap between specialty healthcare providers like neurologists and primary care physicians, announced Tuesday that it raised $4 million in seed funding from General Catalyst and Define Ventures.
• The startup was founded by Verily alums Tom Stanis, who cofounded Verily after a bike accident, and Nikhil Roy. Cardiologist Dr. Ashil Govil also joined the founding team.
• Stanis said his experience managing his father's recovery from a stroke showed him how disconnected specialty care was from primary care doctors. He wanted to empower primary care doctors with the information and expertise to confidently continue a specialty treatment plan.

Read the full story from Megan Hernbroth here>>

More stories we're reading:

• The US turned down 'multiple' chances to buy more doses of Pfizer's highly effective COVID-19 shot and is instead turning to other vaccine agreements, says former FDA chief and Pfizer board member (Business Insider) 
• Walgreens and CVS are recruiting pharmacists ahead of vaccine rollout, paying sign-on bonuses as high as $30,000 at Walgreens (Bloomberg)
• Pfizer's CEO says skipping the second dose of its coronavirus vaccine would be 'a very big mistake,' despite data suggesting partial protection from a single shot (Business Insider) 
• The final surge of the pandemic will be brutal (The Atlantic)

Tomorrow's going to be a big day of vaccine coverage as the FDA holds an advisory committee meeting to discuss the data on Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine. I'll have more details in tomorrow's newsletter, but be sure to stay tuned for more!

What questions do you have going into the meeting? Let me know at [email protected]. 

- Lydia