A coronavirus vaccine that is safe and at least 50% effective would be a “game changer” in the fight against the pandemic, according to a doctor who serves as a researcher for Moderna’s clinical trials.
“Developing vaccines against respiratory viruses is incredibly difficult. If you think about the flu vaccine we use every year, it is only about 40% to 60% effective,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University on Tuesday on CNBC’s Squawk Box. “
The Food and Drug Administration announced last month that it would authorize a coronavirus vaccine, as long as it is safe and at least 50% effective. Dr Stephen Hahn, the agency’s commissioner, said at the time that it would be “unrealistic” to expect a vaccine to be 100% effective.
A vaccine that is 50% effective means that the average risk of individuals from coronavirus infection is reduced by 50%.
“A 50% efficiency would be transformative. It’s much better than zero, that’s what we have now,” del Rio told CNBC. “That I think it would really be a game-changer if we get a fax with 50% or more efficiency.”
Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert, said earlier this month that scientists hope a vaccine to prevent the coronavirus would be at least 75% effective. But the White House health adviser said 50% to 60% effectiveness would also be acceptable.
“You have to think of the vaccine as a tool to know the pandemic to no longer be a pandemic, but to be something that is well controlled,” Fauci said Aug. 7. During a question-and-answer session with Brown University’s School of Public Health.
Del Rio said widespread inoculation of a vaccine, even one with 50% efficacy, would provide the US with so-called herd immunity – the point where enough people have antibodies to fight the virus and therefore significantly limit its spread in a population.
“Between the people who are infected plus the people who are vaccinated, you would get 50% there,” said del Rio, a professor of infectious disease infection at Emory Medical School in Atlanta. He is also co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research.
It is possible that people who get a coronavirus vaccine – if it has to get regulatory approval – might still be infected, del Rio noted. However, vaccination could reduce the risk of serious Covid-19 disease, he said.
“One of the theories is that you can still get infected, but you will not develop complications. You will not end up in the hospital. You will not end up in the ICU,” del Rio said. “And I think that’s pretty transformative, too, because you’re going to reduce the morbidity and mortality of the disease for sure.”
Del Rio is a researcher for the potential vaccine against Moderna for coronavirus. The Massachusetts-based biotech company began its late-stage human trials last month. The National Institutes of Health worked alongside Moderna, which was the first company to begin human trials in March.
Moderna has received pledges of nearly $ 2.5 billion from the U.S. government to help its fax development. Through Operation Warp Speed, the government is delivering billions of dollars to various companies working on a fax machine.
As part of these deals, companies are increasing production capacity to accelerate the deployment of a vaccine, if it proves safe and effective. Del Rio said that is the right strategy.
“So if all goes well, you might talk about March or April of next year, where you can say, ‘OK, we have a vaccine and we have enough doses to give people out,'” del Rio said.
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