A top researcher at Pfizer is applauding the new COVID-19 vaccine that is being touted as a game-changer in the battle against the disease.

The U.S. surpassed 1 million new confirmed coronavirus cases in the first 10 days of November, making the vaccine announcement by Pfizer and partner BioNTech even more crucial. Pfizer and BioNTech say stage three trial results show their vaccine against COVID-19 was 90% effective.

MORE: Pfizer says early data signals COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective at preventing the virus

Dr. Philip Dormitzer, Pfizer's chief scientific officer of viral vaccines, tells News 12 the vaccine is a 'tremendously exciting development.'

"And as you get to these sort of numbers of greater than 90% efficacy, that level of statistical certainty gets even higher so that these sort of results that are extremely unlikely to occur by chance," says Dormitzer.

While scientists at Pfizer say the development puts them on target to seek emergency approval from the FDA by the end of the year, there's still more to do.

"We actually have two more hurdles that we have to cross before we're ready for authorization of the vaccine," says Dormitzer. "We have to have more safety data and we also have to show manufacturing consistency."

If regulatory approval is obtained, Pfizer says it's looking at vaccinating 25 million people initially. Dr. Dormitzer says the decision of who'll get the vaccine will be made with the guidance of public health authorities.

"We do not want to be the decision-makers about who does and does not get the vaccine," says Dormitzer. "That's very much a public health decision. So, that's the sort of work we do in close collaboration with public health agencies."

Dr. Dormitzer knows the public has concerns and says there will be a public meeting held by the FDA to discuss details of the vaccine.