Jon CohenScience’s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.Continuing the spate of stunning news about COVID-19 vaccines, the biotech company Moderna announced the final results of the 30,000-person efficacy trial for its candidate in a press release today: Only 11 people who received two doses of the vaccine developed COVID-19 symptoms after being infected with the pandemic coronavirus, versus 185 symptomatic cases in a placebo group.
That is an efficacy of 94.1%, the company says, far above what many vaccine scientists were expecting just a few weeks ago.More impressive still, Moderna’s candidate had 100% efficacy against severe disease.