Importance of the Moderna announcement for other vaccines

(CNN Español) – The Moderna company announced in a statement that its Phase 3 vaccine candidate has shown 94.5% effectiveness in preventing infection with the novel coronavirus. And Pfizer announced last week that its test vaccine is more than 90 percent effective in preventing outbreak. Both reports are encouraging in efforts to distribute vaccines and end the pandemic.

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Hi, I’m Dr. Elmer Huerta and this is your daily dose of information on the new coronavirus.

Information that we hope will be useful in taking care of your health and that of your family.

Through a press release, not yet a scientific study, the Moderna company has just announced that its vaccine candidate has shown 94.5% effectiveness in preventing infection of the new coronavirus. Furthermore, it indicates that the side effects are mild, although it makes it clear that a more complete intercourse is expected in the coming weeks.

This announcement adds to the news, a week earlier and developed in the November 9 episode, of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which reported that its vaccine against covid-19 had also reached an efficacy of more than 90%.

Encouraging results from Moderna and Pfizer vaccines

Both announcements are very good because they show us that the path science is taking to find a vaccine is the right one.

We recall, as we said in the July 16 episode, that Moderna’s vaccine uses the same messenger RNA technology as the Pfizer vaccine. However, as we will see below, it has important differences in its stability under freezing.

The statement says 95 of the 30,000 volunteers participating in the phase 3 study developed COVID-19, including 11 severe.

Of these 95 infected, 90 received the placebo and only 5 received the vaccine. This clearly shows that the latter were protected by the vaccine from infection.

I must point out that – as we described it in the episodes of 19 and 20 August – I am a volunteer for the phase 3 of the Moderna vaccine, but I still do not know if I have received the vaccine or the placebo.

Like Pfizer, Moderna is expected to apply for an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the end of November and, once obtained, vaccination of high-risk groups.

In this regard, Moderna claims to be able to produce 20 million doses by the end of the year. Pfizer indicates it could have 50 million doses ready.

This indicates that vaccination of the general public could take place in the first half of 2021.

WATCH: Covid-19 vaccine could be delivered by the end of 2020, says BioNTech

A recent article on the STAT portal describes some of the encouraging repercussions these announcements have for vaccines in general and we will take this opportunity to do a brief review of the topic.

Other vaccines benefit from Pfizer’s findings

First of all, the fact that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine have targeted the peak of the virus as a center of attack is great news for all other vaccines. This is because all other candidates – regardless of the technology platform they use – also rely on the spike of the novel coronavirus as an antigenic point.

As we said in the March 20 episode, the peak is the part of the viral structure that allows the virus to enter cells. Blocking the spikes, as Pfizer’s initial results show, is proof that the goal has been well chosen to prevent infection.

Second, the news of the effectiveness of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines is excellent for validating the new messenger RNA technology used by these two vaccines.

This technology, described in the July 16 episode, uses the portion of the genetic code of the new coronavirus that makes the spike, which is converted into a messenger RNA. When injected, it tricks the person’s immune system. The system believes it is being attacked by the whole virus and starts producing neutralizing antibodies.

The importance of getting vaccinated

Third, the fact that initial results indicate that Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are over 90% effective could help the general public accept being vaccinated.

That 90% is remarkable because the FDA had estimated a modest 50% efficacy for a vaccine candidate. Such a low expectation was chosen because it is, on average, equal to that of the flu shot.

Pfizer Vaccine Storage Challenges

Fourth, the Pfizer news raises the question of the logistics of storing and distributing vaccines. Pfizer vaccine should be stored at -70 degrees Celsius. This temperature is only reached by freezers that are not widely used, even in the United States.

For its part, despite using the same technology, Moderna’s vaccine, what’s wrong different ingredients in its preparation, it does not need to be stored at temperatures as low as Pfizer’s.

According to Moderna’s statement, its vaccine requires to be stored at -20 degrees Celsius, but it can last up to 30 days in an ordinary refrigerator. Already at room temperature, Moderna said his vaccine can last 12 hours.

Undoubtedly, these differences will be important for countries in choosing the type of vaccine they wish to purchase for their populations.

In short, Moderna and Pfizer advertisements, which must be approved by scientific publications, are not only good for those two vaccines in particular, but also for the vaccine system in general.

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