Moderna vaccine shows effective protection against COVID-19
Lahore, 16th November: The early data on the COVID-19 vaccine has revealed that it is 95% effective against the deadly virus.
Baaghi TV: According to reports from the BBC, a new vaccine that protects against coronavirus is nearly 95% effective, early data from US company Moderna shows. Similar results from Pfizer add to growing confidence that vaccines can help end the pandemic.
Moderna says it is a “great day” and they plan to apply for approval to use the vaccine in the next few weeks. Moderna has developed an “RNA vaccine”, which means part of the coronavirus’s genetic code is injected into the body.
Both the companies held out a trial to test their vaccines, which involved 30,000 people in the US with half being given two doses of the vaccine, four weeks apart. The rest had dummy injections.
The analysis was based on the first 95 to develop COVID-19 symptoms. Only five of the COVID cases were in people given the vaccine, 90 were in those given the dummy treatment. The company says the vaccine is protecting 94.5%.
According to the news from the BBC, the data also shows there were 11 cases of severe disease in the trial, but none happened in people who were immunised.
“The overall effectiveness has been remarkable… it’s a great day,” Tal Zaks, the chief medical officer at Moderna, told BBC News.
Short-lived fatigue, headache and pain were reported after the injection in some patients.
“These effects are what we would expect with a vaccine that is working and inducing a good immune response,” said Prof Peter Openshaw, from Imperial College London.
Moderna’s vaccine appears to be easier to store as it remains stable at minus 20C for up to six months and can be kept in a standard fridge for up to a month.
Moderna says it will apply to regulators in the US in the coming weeks. It expects to have 20 million doses available in the country.
The company hopes to have up to one billion doses available for use around the world next year and is planning to seek approval in other countries too.
“This news from Moderna is tremendously exciting and considerably boosts optimism that we will have a choice of good vaccines in the next few months,” said Prof Peter Openshaw from Imperial College London.
