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Guwahati: United States' biotech firm Moderna Inc's experimental COVID-19 vaccine showed it was "safe" and showed an encouraging immune system boost response in all the 45 healthy volunteers in an ongoing study, researchers said on Tuesday. No volunteers experienced a serious side effect, but more than half reported "mild or moderate reactions."
The team of researchers said that volunteers who got 2 doses of the vaccine had even higher levels of virus-killing antibodies than the average level seen in people who have recovered from the COVID-19.
The Phase 1 test paves the way for a larger trial of the experimental vaccine on 30,000 people, due to begin around July 27. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US government's top infectious disease expert, said that this bodes well for the future as the world community continues its search for an antidote that can effectively defeat the COVID-19. Fauci noted that the study found no serious adverse events and the experimental vaccine produced "reasonably high" levels of virus-killing or neutralizing antibodies.
Although no study volunteers experienced a serious side effect, more than half reported mild or moderate reactions such as fatigue, headache, chills, muscle aches, or pain at the injection site. These were more likely to occur after the second dose and in people who got the highest dose.
Moderna was the first to start human testing of a vaccine for the COVID-19 way back on March 16, a mere 66 days after the genetic sequence of the virus was released. The company's shares jumped more than 15% in after-hours trading on Tuesday -- hours after this development came to the fore.
Experts are of the openion that a vaccine is urgently needed to put an end to the coronavirus pandemic that has sickened millions and caused nearly 6 lakh deaths across the world. Moderna's Phase 3 trial will be conducted in 30,000 volunteers.