MODERNA REPORTS 94.5% EFFICACY OF ITS COVID VACCINE UNDER TRIAL

Moderna said its COVID-19 vaccine is proving to be highly effective in a major trial, a second dash of hope in the global race for a shot to tame a resurgent virus that is now killing more than 8,000 people a day worldwide, Lauran Neergaard reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The company said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according to preliminary data from Moderna’s ongoing study. A week ago, competitor Pfizer Inc. announced its own COVID-19 vaccine appeared similarly effective — news that puts both companies on track to seek permission within weeks for emergency use in the US.

The results are “truly striking,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious diseases expert. Earlier this year, Fauci said he would be happy with a COVID-19 vaccine that was 60% effective. Moderna’s vaccine is being studied in 30,000 volunteers who received either the real thing or a dummy shot. On Sunday, an independent monitoring board examined 95 infections that were recorded after volunteers’ second dose, and they discovered all but five illnesses occurred in participants who got the placebo.

Dr. Stephen Hoge, Moderna’s president, welcomed the “really important milestone” but said having similar results from two different companies are what is most reassuring. “That should give us all hope that actually a vaccine is going to be able to stop this pandemic and hopefully get us back to our lives,” Hoge told AP. He added: “It won’t be Moderna alone that solves this problem. It’s going to require many vaccines” to meet the global demand.