Pfizer says its vaccine is 95% effective, will apply to FDA for emergency use 'within days'

Pfizer Inc. said Wednesday that its coronavirus vaccine is 95% effective and does not cause any serious side effects following injection. 

The data, which comes from the company's first complete set of results following its Phase 3 trial, indicates that the vaccine prevents mild and serious forms of the novel illness and is 94% effective in elderly patients, who are more susceptible to serious forms of the virus.

The company says it plans to apply to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization "within days." 

If the FDA approves the two-dose vaccine, Pfizer says it may be able to produce as many as 50 million doses by the end of 2020, and up to 1.3 billion by the end of the following year.