Biotech company Moderna has announced that its vaccine developed to fight the novel coronavirus is 94.5% effective according to data stemming from its Phase 3 trial.
This comes on the back of Pfizer announcing the effectiveness of their own vaccine. Moderna observed human subjects who all tested positive for COVID-19. 90 patients were given the placebo while 5 were given Moderna’s mRNA-based vaccine. Out of 11 severe cases, the virus wasn’t found in patients who were in receipt of the actual vaccine candidate.
Previously: Denmark Imposing New Lockdown After Discovering Mutated Coronavirus Strains In Minks
The data associated with the trials come from an independent body not affiliated with Moderna but appointed to oversee the procedure by the National Institutes of Health. And, while this points to a vaccine being made available for public use in the next few months, this is only an interim report.
Moderna has said it will be submitting a request to have the vaccine available for Emergency Use Authorization in the next few weeks, following the findings from trials, and will seek to get approval from the FDA to administer it in emergency circumstances.
Should the Emergency Use Authorization be granted, it will be based on 151 confirmed COVID-19 cases among the group who participated in the Phase 3 testing and the data collected from follow-ups extending from an average of over two months after the confirmation of cases.
All data will be handed to the scientific community for independent peer review.
Both Moderna and Pfizer’s vaccine candidates are mRNA-based vaccines and are new when it comes to human use.
While it differs from traditional vaccines and won’t expose a subject to the virus in order to produce antibodies, there is a lot of skepticism over the use of such technology as it’s thought that an mRNA-based vaccine could irreversibly alter human DNA.
Next: Economist Suggests People Who Work From Home Should Pay New Daily Tax
Source: Read Full Article