Further Vaccine News

Hopes for a return to normal over 2021 have been further amplified this week by a fresh set of headlines pertaining to ongoing COVID vaccine development. Following on from last week’s news that the drug been developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has proven to be over 90% effective in clinical studies, rival firm Moderna made an announcement of their own this week.

Moderna Announces Successful Trials

US biotech company Moderna, which has also been working on vaccine, revealed this week that its vaccine has shown to be 94% effective, making it even more effective than the drug being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Moderna said that following trials on 30,000 test patients (half being given two doses of the drug, four weeks apart, and half a placebo) the vaccine was shown to be 94.5% effective.

On the back of these trials Modern said that it will apply for US regulation over the coming weeks and hopes to have 20 million units of the vaccine ready ahead of the end of the year. Looking beyond that, Moderna projects that it can supply around 1 billion units of the vaccine globally next year and will set out to achieve regulation in other countries in due course.

UK Government Hasn't Ordered Yet

The UK government is in talks with Moderna, as well other firms supplying vaccines though, as yet, the UK administration has not placed an order with Moderna. The UK government has reportedly already ordered six vaccines, including the one developed by Pfzier and BioNTech though said that Moderna’s will not be ready until spring of next year.

While the news is overwhelmingly positive and has further boosted risk appetite this week, there are still some unanswered questions around Moderna’s vaccine ( and other vaccines being developed) such as how long the drug will provide immunity for and whether the vaccine simply prevents symptoms or prevents the spread of the virus. There are also concerns over side effects though, so far, Moderna has noted that no serious safety concerns have been found with only mild side effects such as short-lived headaches, fatigue and muscle pain noted in some patients.

Fresh Fears Over Course of Pandemic

The vaccine news is coming at a critical time given that global infection rates and deaths have been soaring again over recent weeks leading to fresh lockdowns in many European countries. There is a high level of concern over the coming winter months in the West and the impact of flu season on the pandemic which raises the risk of further lockdowns in the New Year until such time that these vaccines have been effectively rolled out.

Infections & Deaths (Global)

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