German health minister encouraged by Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine data

Data from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech on their experimental COVID-19 vaccine are encouraging, Germany's health minister said on Monday. "If this should prove true ... "This is encouraging." The two companies earlier on Monday became the first drugmakers to release successful trial data, saying their vaccine was shown to be more than 90% effective, a major victory in the fight against the pandemic.

Data from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech on their experimental COVID-19 vaccine are encouraging, Germany's health minister said on Monday.

"If this should prove true ... then it would be a good signal because it shows that this vaccine makes a difference," Spahn told a news conference. "This is encouraging."

The two companies earlier on Monday became the first drugmakers to release successful trial data, saying their vaccine was shown to be more than 90% effective, a major victory in the fight against the pandemic.