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An update on the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine | CIO Look

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CIO Look
An update on the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine | CIO Look

In the latest coronavirus vaccine latest update, the US-based biotech company Moderna released new data on Monday which conclusively strengthens its case for the covid-19 vaccine. The study stated that the moderna vaccine is 94% effective, and causes the human immune system to produce potent antibodies that endure for at least three months.

Moderna Inc said that it expects between 100 million to 125 million doses of its experimental covid-19 vaccine available globally in the first quarter of 2021, in this latest covid-19 vaccine update USA. The company added that around 85 million to 100 million of those doses would be available in the United States, while 15 million to 25 million available outside the country.

The first-quarter doses are within the 500 million to up to 1 billion doses the company expects to manufacture in 2021, as per the covid-19 vaccine tracker.

The vaccine, mRNA-1273, achieved high levels of binding and neutralizing antibodies in its test subjects. Although these high levels of antibodies produced due to this covid-19 vaccine declined slightly over time, by introducing a booster vaccination the levels could be maintained high, for up to three months in all participants.

The COVID-19 vaccine race:

The Moderna vaccine built on the company’s previously reported findings, based on its study of about 30,000 volunteers. In the study where both placebo and active shots were given to volunteers, only 11 of the active volunteers reported cases as opposed to the 185 cases in the placebo team.

In other covid-19 vaccine news – Pfizer, which has developed a similar vaccine, reported similar findings. Both Moderna and Pfizer vaccine showed promise in preventing severe cases.

Based on these findings and the analysis of the vaccine’s safety and side-effects, Moderna has submitted an application for emergency use authorization to the food and drug administration(FDA).

Pfizer applied for the same for its covid-19 vaccine on November 9. The FDA is set to hold an advisory committee to discuss the application on December 10.

The FDA has the paramount responsibility to review the data, develop an independent perspective on the new coronavirus vaccines. It needs to take tests to ensure that the drugs are both safe and effective.

The agency recently stated that they are not cutting corners for the tests, as the new vaccines will potentially be delivered to millions of healthy people.

Pfizer and Moderna covid-19 vaccines may soon start to become available in mid to late December, is the FDA gives either of them the thumbs up.

The coronavirus vaccine tracker

The technology used in these vaccines is quite original. The common strategy for vaccines is to inject a weakened or dead virus in order to prompt the human immune system to produce antibodies to fight them.

But the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines both are stuffed with small pieces of genetic material. When injected into a person, the cells in the immune system are alerted. The cells then read the genetic code and produce a protein that is actually a key fragment of the coronavirus, using the small genetic material bits.

The body then builds antibodies that latch onto that fragment, so that when the actual coronavirus attacks the body, it is primed to fight the virus off with antibodies.

Although the vaccine has shown some notable side effects like a sore arm, mild body aches, fever, and flu-like symptoms, the vaccine is still very useful in the fight against the ongoing pandemic.

With nearly 2,000 deaths in the US per day, the whole country is austerely eyeing new coronavirus vaccine news. Developing effective and side-effect-free covid-19 vaccines is of primary importance.

Source: https://bit.ly/2JRouMx                

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