Dr. Anthony Fauci (R), director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, participates in the daily briefing of the coronavirus task force at the White House on April 22, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer | fake pictures
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a White House adviser on coronavirus, said Monday that he “is not particularly concerned” about the safety risk of a possible coronavirus vaccine by Moderna, even though it uses new technologies to combat the virus.
The vaccine, which entered a major human phase three test Monday, uses ribonucleuc Messenger acid or mRNA molecules to provoke an immune response to fight the virus. Scientists hope that mRNA, which carries genetic instructions from DNA, can be used to train the immune system to recognize and destroy Covid-19. While the first studies are promising, mRNA technology has never been used to make a successful vaccine before.
“It is a novel technology. We are certainly aware of the fact that there is not as much experience with this type of platform as with other standards,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters. conference call with Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institute of Health “I am not particularly concerned. But I do not want a severe lack of concern to get in the way of keeping an open mind to look for possible harmful effects as we we move on to phase three of the trial. “
Scientists may know if a possible Moderna coronavirus vaccine works as early as October, but it will likely have the full results by November, Fauci said.
Moderna, which is working in collaboration with the NIH, announced earlier in the day that its vaccine trial began in the final stage. The test will enroll at least 30,000 participants in at least 87 locations, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. Participants in the experimental arm will receive a 100 microgram dose of the potential vaccine on the first day and another 29 days thereafter. Some patients will also receive a placebo.
Moderna’s experimental vaccine contains genetic material called messenger RNA or mRNA. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it would be the first of its kind. The researchers will follow the participants after the phase three trial for one year to control the potential safety risks of the vaccine and two years to monitor its efficacy, Fauci said.
Fauci said he expects the vaccine to be at least 60% effective, meaning that, on average, the vaccine reduces the risk of Covid-19 infection by 60%. “Obviously we would like to see it much, much higher. But 60% is the standard that is made for cutting. That is not unusual,” he said. “I would like to see the highest percentage we could get.”
Fauci touted the possible vaccine as a great achievement, saying the time it took to move the virus’ genetic sequence to a phase three trial was a record for the United States.
Fauci’s comments came days after he said that a coronavirus vaccine would likely not be “widely available” to the American public until “several months” in 2021.
Public health officials and scientists hope to know if at least one of the many possible Covid-19 vaccines in development is safe and effective by the end of December or early next year, he said Friday during a live question-and-answer session. with The Washington Post.
“It is likely that early next year we will have tens of millions of doses available,” Fauci said, adding that some drug manufacturers have forecast more doses than that. “I think as we enter 2021, several months later, that you would have vaccines that would be widely available.”
Although scientists hope to have an effective vaccine widely available by next year, there is never a guarantee. While drug makers are competing to produce millions of doses of vaccines, there is a possibility that the vaccine may require two doses instead of one, which could further limit the number of people who can be vaccinated once the vaccine is in place. available, experts say.
Moderna said it is on track to deliver between 500 million and one billion doses per year starting next year.
.
