The BBC reports that, hot on the heels of Pfizer/BioNTech’s announcement of 90% protection conferred by their vaccine, Moderna has announced that their trial with 30 000 participants has achieved a 94.5% level of protection.
This is based on the first 95 participants to develop COVID, with only five having received the vaccine while the others received the placebo. Additionally, although 11 participants developed severe COVID, none came from the vaccine group.
Slight, short-lived adverse effects including headaches, fatigue and pain were reported after receiving the vaccine by patients. Prof Peter Openshaw, of Imperial College London commented, “These effects are what we would expect with a vaccine that is working and inducing a good immune response.”
Moderna’s vaccine also has an advantage over the Pfizer vaccine in that it can be stored at -20C for up to six months, and in a refrigerator for one month. This will significantly improve the logistics of its distribution, requiring a less intensive cold storage chain.
