COVID-19 vaccine key conversation driver for Pfizer among Twitter influencers during Q4 2020– GlobalData

The Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised Pfizer and BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2) for emergency use against COVID-19 in December 2020. These approvals, supported by remarkable efficacy data, have led to a staggering 250 per cent rise in the influencer conversations around Pfizer on Twitter during October-December (Q4) 2020 compared to the previous three months, reveals GlobalData.

Smitarani Tripathy, Influencer Analyst, GlobalData, commented, “In November, there was a dramatic rise in the influencer conversations around Pfizer and vaccines on GlobalData’s Influencer platform, led by the announcement of the success of its COVID-19 vaccine. The mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, is said to be more than 90 per cent effective. This announcement came after the first interim efficacy analysis in Phase III of clinical trial of the vaccine candidate.”

Another major spike for Pfizer was noticed in December, when MHRA authorised the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine. The UK is the first country in the world to start using this new vaccine.

In addition, the emergency use-authorisation from the US FDA was another key driver of conversation during the month.

The EU, Canada, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia have already approved the emergency use of the vaccine while Pfizer has also applied for approval in several other countries.

Another conversation spike was noticed when FDA started investigating instances where people suffered allergic reactions after receiving the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

In October, an influencer conversation spike around Pfizer was driven by the announcement by the company that it owns 9.9 per cent stake in CStone Pharmaceuticals (Cstone). Pfizer partnered with CStone to develop and commercialise oncology therapies of CStone in China.