The second virus vaccine has shown remarkable success in US testing

The results are “really impressive,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top US government infectious disease expert. “The vaccines we are talking about, and the ones that are coming up, really shine at the end of the tunnel.”

Vaccines do not arrive fast enough in the United States, with more than 11 million cases of the virus over the weekend, of which 1 million were recorded last week. The governor and mayor are tightening restrictions prior to Thanksgiving. The outbreak has killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide, of which more than 246,000 have died in the United States.

Equities on Wall Street and around the world have rebounded in response to rising expectations that the global economy may begin to return to normal in the coming months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by more than 470 points (1.6%), closing at a record high of over 29,950. Moderna shares rose almost 10%.

Both vaccines should be given twice at intervals of several weeks. US officials said they were hoping for about 20 million Moderna doses and another 20 million vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in late December.

Dr. Stephen Hoge, President of Moderna, welcomed the “really important milestone” but said it was most encouraging to see similar results from two different companies.

“It should actually give us all the hope that the vaccine will stop this pandemic and hopefully bring us back to our lives,” Hooge told The Associated Press. He added: “Moderna isn’t the only one to solve this problem. Many vaccines will be needed to meet global demand.”

If the Food and Drug Administration permits the emergency use of Moderna or Pfizer candidates, there will be a limited ration supply by the end of the year.

It has not yet been decided who will be in line first. However, Secretary of Health and Welfare Alex Azar hopes that enough doses will be available by the end of January to vaccinate adults and health care workers aged 65 and over who are at the highest risk of coronavirus. He said he was doing it. Fauci said the risk wasn’t high and it could take spring or summer before anyone who wants a shot can get a shot.

Neil Browning of Bothell, Washington, rolled up his sleeves for the first test of Moderna’s vaccine in humans in March, and is excited about Monday’s “great news” but still carefully masks. He said he was wearing and taking other precautions.

“I am very pleased to be able to participate in this and work and help bring some kind of peace back to the world,” Browning said. “I have a lot of hope.”

The National Institutes of Health helped create vaccines manufactured by Moderna, and NIH director Francis Collins told scientists that the parallel results of the two companies were “a path towards the development of effective vaccines.” It gives “great confidence that we are moving forward.”

But “we’re also in this really dark time,” he warns, and people relax during the months it takes for FDA-approved vaccine doses to begin to reach the majority of the population. He said he couldn’t.

Moderna’s vaccine is being studied by 30,000 volunteers who received either real or dummy shots. On Sunday, an independent surveillance committee investigated 95 infections recorded after the volunteer’s second shot. The vaccinated person had only five illnesses.

Earlier this year, Fauci said he was happy with the COVID-19 vaccine, which is 60% effective.

Research is ongoing, and Moderna acknowledged that further detection of COVID-19 infection could change protection rates. It’s also premature to know how long the protection will last. Both precautions apply to Pfizer vaccines.

However, Moderna’s independent monitor reported some additional promising bites: all 11 severe COVID-19 cases were among placebo recipients and had no serious safety concerns. .. The main side effects were fatigue, myalgia, and pain at the injection site after the second dose.

Scientists not involved in the trial were encouraged, but the FDA warned that safety data still needed to be scrutinized to decide whether to allow vaccination outside of research studies.

“We haven’t reached the goal line yet,” said Dr. James Cattlel, an infectious disease expert at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “If there is an impression or perception that there is only a rubber stamp, or if there is no due diligence to confirm the data, it can weaken public confidence.”

The state is already preparing for what is expected to be the largest vaccination campaign in US history. First, the shot needs to arrive where it’s needed, and Pfizer needs to be kept at an ultra-low temperature of around minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit. Moderna vaccines also start with freezing, but the company says it can alleviate that concern by thawing it on Monday and storing it in a regular refrigerator for 30 days.

Beyond the United States, the World Health Organization, which aims to purchase doses for other governments and poor countries, separately decides if and when vaccines should be rolled out. Must be.

“There are still many questions about how long protection will last and whether the first vaccine will work in older people as well as younger people,” said Dr. Somyaswaminasan, WHO Chief Scientist. I am. “We also hope that clinical trials will continue to collect data, as long-term knowledge is so important.”

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Moderna’s vaccine is among the 11 candidates for late-stage trials worldwide, four of which are in large-scale studies in the United States. Collins emphasized that these studies require more US volunteers.

Elsewhere in the world, China and Russia have provided people with different vaccines before completing final-stage trials.

Both Moderna’s Shot and Pfizer-BioNTech candidates are all-new technologies, the so-called mRNA vaccines. They are not made by the coronavirus itself. That is, no one can catch it from a shot. Instead, the vaccine contains a genetic code that trains the immune system to recognize spiked proteins on the surface of the virus.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla tweeted that he was excited about Moderna’s news, saying, “Our company shares a common goal of defeating this horrific disease.”

Associated Press photographer Ted Warren contributed to this report.

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