Second COVID-19 vaccine found to be 95% effective

Biotech company Moderna has announced that, according to preliminary data, its COVID-19 vaccine is 94.5 per cent effective at preventing the disease.

On Monday, Moderna said the results were found following an analysis of its clinical trial of the vaccine.

“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,” said Stephane Bancel, Moderna’s CEO, according to several reports.

Last week, the world rejoiced at the news that Pfizer reported an effectiveness rate of 90 per cent at preventing the disease. It is working on the COVID-19 vaccine with BioNTech.

Moderna’s trial involves 30,000 test subjects, half of which were given two doses of the experimental vaccine, two weeks apart. The remaining half were given a placebo.

The company then analysed the first 95 people among those test subjects who reported they were COVID-19 positive. Of the 95, 90 came from the half who received a placebo, while only five cases were among those who received the vaccine.

While the results have elicited hope that the world can see the back of COVID-19, like in the Pfizer trial, the data is still considered preliminary and a number of questions remain.