Coronavirus Vaccine Research Shows Some Promise, Emory Says

07/15/2020 Business, Health, Sports


A team including researchers from Emory University released the findings on Tuesday from closely watched work to create a COVID-19 vaccine that showed some positive results, but more work is needed to make sure it’s safe.

The findings showed high levels of neutralizing antibody activity that were above the average levels observed in blood serum obtained from people recovering from the disease, Emory’s team said.

The researchers said no serious side effects were found, but more than half of the 45 patients in the trial study said they suffered from fatigue, headaches and chills. The researchers said that side effects were more frequent among patients who received the strongest of the three doses tested.

An Emory principal investigator called the results encouraging.

“While there is still a lot of work to do before we have a vaccine that is safe and effective against COVID-19, this study provides critical information on the safety of the vaccine,” said Dr. Evan Anderson, associate. professor of medicine and pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare Atlanta. “Importantly, the vaccine resulted in a robust immune response.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was equally optimistic about the findings.

“No matter how this is cut, this is good news,” Fauci told The Associated Press.

The patients received two doses of an experimental vaccine, called mRNA-1273, developed by the Massachusetts-based company Moderna with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The experimental vaccine is designed to induce neutralizing antibodies to a portion of the coronavirus “spike” protein, which the virus uses to bind to and enter human cells. The research has been closely watched by scientists and health officials. The study results were published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.