Sen. Hoylman, Participant In Pfizer Vaccine Trial, Hails Progress

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A Manhattan State Senator who is one of several thousand patients participating in Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine trials said Tuesday that he was heartened by new data showing that the vaccine is highly effective in preventing COVID-19.

Sen. Brad Hoylman, whose West Side district stretches from the West Village to Central Park, received the trial vaccine in August through the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, supervised by NYU Langone Health’s Vaccine Center — one of more than 100 centers globally participating in the trial.

On Monday, Pfizer announced that an early analysis found the vaccine more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 among volunteers, well above the threshold of 50 or 60 percent that Dr. Anthony Fauci had said would be acceptable.

Hoylman does not know if the two shots he received were the vaccine or a placebo, but he told the New York Post that he experienced some mild, flu-like side effects shortly afterwards.

“I congratulate the researchers and medical personnel who helped achieve this historic milestone, including those at the Vaccine Center at NYU Langone Health, who have taken such good care of me and other trial participants," Hoylman said in a statement Tuesday.

"It’s humbling to be a participant in this vaccine trial and do my part to advance a vaccine against a pandemic that has killed more than 1.26 million people worldwide, as well as stand up for science as a public official who believes in the safety and efficacy of vaccines."

Pfizer said it will ask the Food and Drug Administration to issue an emergency authorization of the vaccine later month. The company will have made enough doses by the end of this year to immunize up to 20 million people, the New York Times reported.

Despite the positive findings, Hoylman noted that New York, like the rest of the country, is in the midst of an alarming COVID-19 resurgence. Earlier Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city was on the precipice of a second wave that could shutter schools and prompt a return to citywide restrictions.

"No vaccine will be ready for distribution this fall and winter, and we all need to take even more precautions to avoid the devastation we lived through in March and April," Hoylman said. "Now is not the time to let up on social distancing. If anything, a vaccine on the horizon is more incentive to take precautions until a vaccine is safe to distribute."

Hoylman, 55, won re-election to his 27th Senate District seat in an uncontested race last week. He is running for Manhattan Borough President in 2021.

Related coverage: NY Politician Participates In Clinical Trial For COVID-19 Vaccine