Coronavirus: Provisional data from an advanced stage trial indicated Moderna’s vaccine was 94.5% effective.
London:
Britain has secured 5 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna Inc after reporting positive test results, Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Monday, with the first doses expected in the spring .
Provisional data from an advanced stage trial indicated Moderna’s vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19.
“Today we got an initial agreement for 5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine,” Hancock said at a press conference.
Britain had previously made supply agreements for a total of 350 million doses of vaccine from six different suppliers, including Pfizer Inc, whose vaccine has been shown to be over 90% effective, and 100 million Doses from an AstraZeneca / Oxford candidate should be reported late. results of the stage in the coming weeks.
Earlier, spokesman for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government had prioritized deals with vaccine developers that could provide a rapid supply to Britain and have established supply chains advanced manufacturing.
When asked if he regretted not being able to buy more Moderna vaccine, Hancock said Britain expected to have more vaccines sooner.
“The Moderna vaccine will not be put into use until the spring,” Hancock said. “I’m really excited that we have these first vaccines that will be available early, and we already have the orders.”
Britain plans to take delivery of the Pfizer vaccine before the Moderna vaccine becomes available, as well as AstraZeneca’s candidate if it proves effective.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van Tam said data from late-stage trials of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine had not been reviewed, so it was still unclear whether it worked.
But he added that the results of the vaccine trials Pfizer and its partner BioNTech and Moderna bode well for other candidates who target the coronavirus spike protein.
“It’s really starting to show us that the spike protein is a totally plausible and effective target that vaccines work against,” Van Tam said.
“We feel happier than we used to be. But do we know the data from Oxford / AstraZeneca? No, we don’t.”
