Moderna Vaccine Is 94.5% Effective & Has An Edge Over Pfizer’s

Days after Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their vaccine is more than 90 percent effective against the coronavirus, Moderna today announced their vaccine was almost 95 percent effective in the trials, 94.5 % precisely.

Moderna’s phase 3 study indicates it can help with severe Covid cases. Moderna’s stock price took a sudden rise after Moderna made a statement on their Phase 3 trial results. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said the Moderna vaccine’s potential to prevent severe Covid-19 is a very important impact.

15,000 study participants were in the placebo group and 90 of them developed Covid-19 over months and 11 of them became severely ill. Another 15,000 participants have taken the vaccine and only five of them developed Covid-19 and no severe illness cases.

Moderna’s Advantage Over Pfizer?

The vaccine making firms Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine trial showing effective results raise the next question on who is having the edge over the other.

The US Health and Human Services secretary said Moderna’s vaccine is more flexible as it can be kept in regular freezer refrigeration while Pfizer’s vaccine candidate needs to be kept at minus 75 degrees Celsius. Considering the bleak possibility of pharmacies and doctor offices having those freezers as no other vaccine needs to be kept that cold, Moderna’s vaccine has got an advantage over Pfizer’s.

Moderna’s vaccine can be kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius or at 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Vaccinations From December End?

US’s top infectious disease doctor Dr. Antony Fauci said the vaccinations could begin next month. Moderna announced its trials showed the results as 94.5 percent effective and they are planning to apply to the US FDA for authorization of vaccine after they get more safety data.

Dr. Fauci said he is expecting the first Covid-19 vaccinations to begin in December. The health care workers, elderly, and people with underlying medical conditions are to get the vaccine first.