There’s hope for a COVID-19 vaccine in the US, as the country began the first phase 3 vaccine trial on Monday. Both Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases created the vaccine.
Phase 3 Testing of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine
CNN reports that Moderna began phase 3 at “nearly 100 US research sites.” In Savannah, Georgia, the first patient received the vaccine. Moderna plans to inject the vaccine into 30,000 adult subjects. For dosage, the company will use two 100 microgram vaccine doses or a placebo, with 28 days between injections. No one will know who got the vaccine.
The trial will find out if Moderna’s vaccine can prevent COVID-19 symptoms after two doses. Likewise, it will also find out whether the vaccine is safe.
We just announced that the Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273, our vaccine candidate against COVID-19 has begun. The Phase 3 study being conducted in collaboration with @NIH and @BARDA. Read more here: https://t.co/Xi9SV6fk4z pic.twitter.com/oESeuKjF08
— Moderna (@moderna_tx) July 27, 2020
Initial Results of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine
Phase 1 of the Moderna vaccine trial showed promising results. The vaccine triggered immune responses in all volunteers, It was also safe. However, the vaccine also had some side effects, such as “fatigue, chills, headache.”
Groups of people received the doses in Phase 2. These were people of similar age and physical health as the intended recipients. With Phase 3, the test involves dosing thousands of people.
Other COVID-19 Vaccines Aside from Moderna
The World Health Organization said 25 vaccines are undergoing testing across the world. Data from Johns Hopkins University said that over 4.2 million Americans have the virus, which also killed 146,935 people.
