A health professional holds a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-up vaccination site operated by SOMOS Community Care during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in New York, January 29, 2021.
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Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective at protecting against Covid-19 and more than 95% effective against serious illness up to six months after the second dose, the company said Tuesday, citing updated data from its phase three clinical trial.
The update takes Moderna one step closer to filling its vaccine for full US approval. The new data includes cases through April 9 and evaluated more than 900 cases of Covid-19, including more than 100 serious cases, he said. The vaccine is currently approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration for people 18 and older. Moderna submitted just two months of follow-up safety data to the EUA. The FDA usually takes six months for full approval.
The company said the results are preliminary. Moderna said it will share year-round updated data on its efficacy against asymptomatic infection and antibody persistence.
The new data comes after a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that antibodies induced by the Moderna vaccine were still present six months after the second dose. It also comes after Pfizer said earlier this month that its vaccine, which uses similar technology to Moderna’s, was also found to be very effective six months after the second dose.
Moderna is still evaluating its vaccine in children 17 and under.
The company said Tuesday that the pilot study of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 is now fully enrolled with about 3,000 participants in the US.
It said its trial is currently enrolling testing the shot on 6-month to 11-year-old children. It expects to enroll 6,750 healthy pediatric participants in the US and Canada. Like the Pfizer study, children will start on a low dose of the vaccine before gradually moving to higher doses.