Moderna Covid-19 vaccine is 94.5% effective and the British scientists have hailed the tremendously exciting news that a US coronavirus vaccine may prevent 94.5% of people from getting Covid-19.
Interim data from the US firm Moderna suggests its vaccine is highly effective in preventing people getting ill and also works across all age groups, including the elderly.
The UK has not placed an order for the vaccine that will work similarly to Pfizers. But it is still unclear whether the British Government can get any stock. But scientists confirmed the news bodes well for other Covid-19 vaccines like the one for UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University which is due to present report in the coming weeks.
Shortly, for an Emergency Use Authorisation with the US Food and Drug Administration, Moderna intends to submit an application. It will submit data on the vaccines effectiveness and safety.
The final-stage clinical trial of the firm is ongoing. It has reported to include more than 30,000 people in the US. The interim analysis included 95 participants with confirmed cases of Covid-19. Out of which 90 had received the placebo and five the active vaccine. The 95 cases included 15 older adults who are aged 65 and over. 20 people are also included who were not white. 12 of whom were from Hispanic or Latino/a backgrounds. Other four were taken to be African Americans, three Asian Americans and one who was multiracial.
Including 11 severe cases in the first interim analysis, severe cases of coronavirus were also examined. Each of theses 11 cases occurred in the placebo group and none in the group which had received the vaccine, known currently as mRNA-1273.
Moderna confirmed that its available safety data does not indicate any significant safety concerns and the vaccine was generally safe and well tolerated. The majority of adverse events were mild or moderate in severity.
Severe events after the first dose included injection site pain and after the second dose included arthralgia (joint pain), headache, fatigue, myalgia (muscle pain), pain, and redness at the injection site.
But the above stated effects of the injection were generally short-lived, Moderna said. The 94.5% efficacy from the analysis could drop when further results from the clinical trial are announced. Stephane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, said: This is a pivotal moment in the development of our Covid-19 vaccine candidate. Since early January, we have chased this virus with the intent to protect as many people around the world as possible. All along, we have known that each day matters. This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent Covid-19 disease, including severe disease.
Moderna announced that the UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) at the end of October has started the rolling review process of its vaccine. MHRA will review data as it becomes available from ongoing studies. It will provide the ability to at some point say whether the vaccine should be licensed in the UK.
The announcement comes one week after Pfizer/BioNTech released interim study data suggesting their vaccine is more than 90% effective. Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said: 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. First we heard 90% efficacy from Pfizer and BioNTech, then the Russians said 92% and now Moderna says 94.5%. This latest press release is based on a study of 30,000 US adults, including many high-risk or elderly persons. This gives us confidence that the results are relevant in the people who are most at risk of Covid-19 and in most need of the vaccines.” Moderna have confirmed that the vaccine can be kept in a conventional freezer (-20C) for up to six months, and can be kept for up to 30 days at standard refrigerator (2 to 8C? which will make the vaccine much easier to deliver.
The Professor of Pharmaco-epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Stephen Evans, said: This announcement from Moderna is a further encouragement that vaccines will be found to not only have an acceptable efficacy, but an efficacy that is much greater than we had anticipated.