Modern Covid vaccine “94.5 percent effective” – ​​Corriere.it

The American company Modern announced in a statement that his Vaccine for COVID-19 – mRNA-1,273 – a 94.5% effective.

Last week, Pfizer had announced a 90% effectiveness for its vaccine. The data is preliminary and the studies are still ongoing: this means that the percentages may change. For now, Pfizer and Moderna have announced the results through press releases and not by publishing the research in peer-reviewed scientific journals – the companies have yet to release the detailed data that would allow outside experts to evaluate their claims. However, the results are more than encouraging and offer hope amid a pandemic that has killed more than 1.2 million people and infected 53 million worldwide. “This is very good news,” he said. Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, who also spoke of a “strong step in the right direction.” “I thought we would be fine, but 94.5 percent is really impressive.” However, the vaccine won’t be available on a large scale until spring.

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Storage in fridge and freezer.

According to the preliminary results of the trial, the vaccine being developed by the American company, in collaboration with theOperation Speed ​​Warp of the United States government, it would be easier to store and to be transported than expected for the Pfizer drug. According to the statement, the vaccine is stable at standard refrigeration temperatures between 2 and 8 C for 30 days; “Up to 30 days in home refrigerators and room temperature up to 12 hours”, and would remain stable at -20 degrees, the temperature of most home freezers and pharmacies, for up to 6 months. The Pfizer-BioNT vaccine, on the other hand, must be stored at 80 degrees below zero (in a normal refrigerator it resists for five days): in Italy, for example, the only two airports certified to receive drugs are Fiumicino and Malpensa, but they are not equipped with such low temperatures. Vaccines for other diseases, like influenza, are actually stored at -2 / -8 degrees. The cold chain must be guaranteed from the moment the drug leaves the production site until the dose is administered.

How the Moderna virus works and in how many people it has been tested

The Moderna vaccine, as well as that of Pfizer-BioNTech and that of the German Curevac, is based on one of the most innovative and advanced technologies, RNA, significantly different from traditional ones: it would stimulate the production of antibodies against the peak protein of which The virus uses it to adhere to and penetrate human cells. The use of messenger RNA (mRNA) was a choice dictated by the need to be able to produce vaccines in a short time, obtaining an optimal immune response.

I study

The study, the results of which were published today by the company, was carried out on 30,000 patients in the United States. Half of the participants were injected with the vaccine (two doses, 4 weeks apart); the other half a placebo. The published analysis is based on the first 95 participants to have confirmed cases of Covid-19. Only 5 of the people who developed symptoms had received the vaccine; the other 90 had received placebo. And of the 95 cases, the 11 severe cases were all in the placebo group. Moderna intends to file an emergency use authorization request with the US Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks.

What do we not know yet?

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement that the findings provided “the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent Covid-19 disease, including severe disease.” Two very important things about vaccines in general are still unclear: how long the immunity guaranteed by the vaccine lasts and whether the vaccine stops the development of Covid symptoms, but does not prevent those infected with the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus. are on becoming contagious. Instead, we know from early results that the vaccine is absolutely safe: Among those who received the vaccine, the most severe symptoms were headache and fatigue.

Why is it important to have more than one vaccine?

“We have at least eight candidates in phase 3, the last step of the trial,” Professor Remuzzi told Corriere a few days ago. “So it is reasonable to think that at least one couple will arrive at the same time. It is important because we do not know if any of them will be 100 percent effective, but none will be produced in such large quantities as to satisfy the entire world population. Having more than one will help us get closer to the goal of covering the entire planet and in the meantime allow scientists to hone them in the course of work.