According to the latest news, a second Coronavirus vaccine appears highly effective in preventing disease following exposure to the virus.
On October 16, Moderna Inc., the biotech company, announced its experimental vaccine achieved 94.5% effectiveness in preventing coronavirus.
Significantly, the news appears a week after BioNTech and Pfizer announced that their vaccine was up to 90% effective.
The results for both vaccines come from interim analyses of great clinical studies. For example, in the Moderna study, they tested 30,000 people. Half got two doses of the vaccine 28 days apart, while half got two shots of placebo at the exact time.
Remarkably, there were 95 cases of coronavirus disease among the study participants, and five of those cases were in the vaccinated group. Ninety were in the group receiving the placebo. Besides, there were 11 cases of severe disease. According to results, the vaccine induced an immune response that protected people if exposed to Covid-19.
According to Moderna’s chief executive officer, this positive analysis from their Phase 3 study has revealed that vaccines can prevent coronavirus infection.
Besides, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use the same technology to make vaccines, as it’s based on a molecule – mRNA. Additionally, the messenger RNA molecule contains genetic instructions for making proteins inside cells.
Moderna will ship nearly 20 million vaccines to the U.S. by the end of the year
Moreover, the Moderna and Pfizer studies took place using different protocols. For example, Moderna’s participants exhibited at least two symptoms of disease. Plus, they had to show a positive test for consideration. Meanwhile, the Pfizer study required only one symptom.
Except for that, vaccines also differ in their storage requirements. Moderna says its vaccine can be safely saved in freezers at around 25 degrees Fahrenheit, which equals -4 degrees Celsius. It will remain effective for more than 30 days. Pfizer’s vaccine needed storage in specialized ultracold freezers under -94 degrees Fahrenheit, which equals -70 degrees Celsius.
However, the Moderna vaccine includes pain at the injection site, fatigue, and aching muscles and joints.
Moderna said it intends to file in the following weeks with the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its vaccine for emergency use.
On Monday, Moderna announced that it expects to be capable of shipping nearly 20 million vaccine doses in the U.S. by the end of the year. However, in 2021, the company said it awaits to shop 500 million to 1 billion doses worldwide.
