Moderna Reveals Its Covid-19 Vaccine is 94.5% Effective

A second coronavirus vaccine has been proven to work as US pharmaceutical company Moderna today revealed its coronavirus vaccine is 94.5 percent effective. This is the second coronavirus vaccine that been proven to work

Pfizer's vaccine, which works in the same way, was last week found to be 90 percent effective.

Early results from the company's final stage of clinical trials bring another landmark success in the global race to end the pandemic.

Moderna's results show that only five out of 95 people who tested positive in the study had been given the vaccine, compared to 90 who had not. There are around 30,000 people in the study in total, each receiving two doses of the jab or a placebo.

And nobody in the vaccine, the group got seriously ill with Covid-19, compared to 11 in the placebo group, who were given a fake vaccine to compare against the real one.

The results suggest the vaccine significantly reduces the risk of people testing positive for coronavirus or getting sick with Covid-19.

But Britain has not secured early access to the vaccine, meaning it will not get any doses of the jab this year. It may be able to buy some of the 500million to 1billion doses the firm plans to make in 2021, but no deal has yet been announced. The Government says it is 'in advanced discussions' and could get access from spring next year.

The US, meanwhile, has already struck a $1.5billion (£1.16bn) deal for 100million doses, while the EU has an 'unsigned' deal for 160million doses. Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, and Israel have all also secured deals with Moderna, while the company continues 'discussions with a number of countries'. It is expected to manufacture 20m doses this year.  

The jab is expected to cost $15.25 (£11.57) per dose, so $30.50 (£23.14) per person, which is slightly cheaper than the $19.50 (£14.79) per dose charged to the US by Pfizer. 

Moderna's maybe cheaper to distribute, however, because it can be kept in a fridge for up to a month and transported in normal freezers at -20°C (-4°F), whereas Pfizer's must be stored at an ultra-cold -70°C (-94°F) in specialist equipment.

Moderna said it will apply for a license from the US Food & Drug Administration within weeks, but it is unclear whether it will apply to the UK. British drug regulator, the MHRA, is in the midst of an ongoing review of the vaccine.

The study will continue until 151 people have been infected, and the company admitted the estimate of how effective the jab is might change by the end.

Scientists today hailed the news as 'tremendously exciting' and 'a second dose of very encouraging news', and it comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock today said the UK is gearing up to start giving out Pfizer's vaccine from December 1.

Virologist at the University of Reading, Professor Ian Jones told MailOnline: 'Yet another set of vaccine data with 90 percent-plus protection. 

'The poor antibody response seen in some natural Covid infections clearly does not apply to purposeful vaccination, which in turn means we can be confident about pushing the pandemic back as and when vaccine rollout occurs. 

'For the Moderna vaccine the logistics of the process may also be helped by their stability data which shows a less strict cold chain requirement than some. With three trials having been reported and no major safety issues identified the vaccination program can now focus on deployment and access to vaccines for all who need them.'

And Dr Andrew Preston, a biologist at the University of Bath, told this website: 'That two vaccines, based on this new vaccine platform [mRNA vaccine] give such similar, high levels of protection gives real confidence that the vaccines work.

Like the Pfizer trial, a vast majority of the cases of Covid recorded occurred in people who had received the placebo vaccine, demonstrating the ability of the Covid vaccine to protect against Covid disease.

'The trial included people in the most vulnerable categories (older age and certain co-morbidities [illnesses]). Although this important inclusion is emphasised in the press release, a detailed explanation of whether the trial data can specify the level of protection for each of these key subgroups is lacking. So, while the headline figure of overall protection is extremely encouraging, some important questions remain to be answered.' 

He added the fact that fact the vaccine does not need to be kept in ultra-cold temperatures like Pfizer's, so would be easy to store, was 'a second dose of very encouraging news'.