Moderna Inc. said Wednesday that his experimental coronavirus vaccine caused immune responses in people 56 years and older that were comparable to those seen in younger adults in a small study, a promising sign for a vulnerable age group.
Older adults have a higher risk of hospitalization and death of Covid-19 than younger people. While Moderna and other companies are pushing to develop vaccines to protect humans from the new coronavirus, some experts fear that vaccines may not provide as much protection in older adults.
The immune system generally weakens with age, making it more difficult for a vaccine to produce an adequate immune response against disease.
Moderna had released results from her first human study of her vaccine showing that it caused immune responses and was generally safe and well tolerated in adults aged 18 to 55. The study, led by the National Institutes of Health, was extended to people over to take the age of 55 years.
In the Phase 1 study of Moderna, volunteers received two doses of the vaccine, four weeks apart. Moderna added subjects aged 56 years and older to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in the older age groups.
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