1/ The second COVID-19 vaccine trial results have been released. 94.5% estimated efficacy! Outstanding news. These are Moderna vaccine results, independent of the Pfizer results a week ago. So there are now two independent successes!

https://bit.ly/35AO3di 

2/ Key points:

It is the same general type of vaccine as the Pfizer vaccine. Both are RNA.

There were 90 cases of COVID-19 in the placebo group, and only 5 in the vaccinated group. That gives an ~95% efficacy calculation.

3/ There were 11 severe cases of COVID-19. Severe cases are defined as hospitalized cases that require oxygen, and frequently are ICU patients. All 11 severe cases were in the placebo group, indicated the Moderna vaccine works very well at preventing severe COVID-19.

4/ No serious safety concerns, and there is a lot of data now on safety, because over 15,000 people have received the Moderna vaccine. And another 20,000 people have received the Pfizer vaccine.

5/ As I noted when the Pfizer results were released, there was no specific reason not to expect multiple other candidate COVID-19 vaccines to do well in humans now, based on the data. And, indeed, the Moderna vaccine results look extremely good also.

6/ The biggest unknown now is probably durability of the vaccine-induced immunity. There is no licensed RNA vaccine, so there is no clear reference point for how durable immunity will be for this vaccine. However, for now, the vaccine clinical interim results are a great success!

7/ More details:

Some observers have been surprised that 90% vaccine efficacy was possible, but many vaccines are close to 100% effective, including vaccines against respiratory pathogens such as smallpox and measles.

8/ The Moderna vaccine was developed in close collaboration with the USA National Institutes of Health (NIH). Specifically, the Vaccine Research Center (VRC), which Tony Fauci has strongly supported for many years.

9/ Vaccine protection was reported based symptomatic cases, not number of infections. This endpoint was decided on because preventing systemic disease is the primary goal of COVID-19 vaccines, and...

10/ it would be extraordinarily challenging to check 40,000 people for SARS2 infections continuously for months. This clinical trial (and others) tracked self-reported symptoms, and subjects with symptoms were then tested to confirm SARS-CoV-2 infection.

11/ Specific data on success in older adults (65+) was not stated, but the phrase ‘ broadly consistent... across all subgroups” was used. It has already been published that...

12/ the Moderna vaccine does elicit immune responses in older adults (age 71+) similar to younger adults. Both neutralizing antibodies and CD4 T cells. So, very good news again for protecting older adults. https://bit.ly/3pt1unv