Pfizer said Monday that an early peek at the data on its coronavirus vaccine suggests the shots may be a robust 90% effective at preventing COVID-19, putting the company on track to apply later this month for emergency-use approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The announcement, less than a week after a presidential election that was seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis, was a rare and major piece of encouraging news lately in the battle against the scourge that has killed more than 1.2 million people worldwide, including almost a quarter-million in the U.S. alone.

Pharmaceutical companies and various countries are in a global race to develop a vaccine against the virus.

Stock markets rocketed higher Monday after Pfizer said early data show its coronavirus vaccine is effective and investors breathed a sigh of relief after days of U.S. presidential limbo ended with Democrat Joe Biden declared the president-elect.

Minnesota is adding more than a dozen free COVID-19 testing sites around the state over the next two weeks in an effort to bring the virus under control as cases have surged to dangerous levels in recent weeks, Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday.

Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said testing at the sites will be free and available to anyone who wants to be tested whether they have symptoms or not, and it will not require insurance. One new site, at the Minneapolis Convention Center, opened Monday and offers saliva testing.

An additional 11 sites will open next Monday at National Guard armories throughout the state. Those sites will be operated by the Minnesota National Guard in partnership with local public health staff. They will offer a mix of saliva and nasal swab tests and will stay open through at least the end of the year.

Kai Sanchez Avila can be reached at sanc1944@stthomas.edu.