We’ve had the Covid vaccine all along – it took just a weekend to design

WE have had the Covid vaccine all along and it took just one weekend to design. Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine, which was stamped with a 94.5 percent success rate in preventing Coronavirus on November 16, was created almost one year ago – with the assistance of investigators from NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center. The vaccine’s late stage eficacy […]

WE have had the Covid vaccine all along and it took just one weekend to design.

Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine, which was stamped with a 94.5 percent success rate in preventing Coronavirus on November 16, was created almost one year ago – with the assistance of investigators from NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center.

AP

The vaccine was created over one year ago[/caption]

AFP or licensors

A woman receives a Covid-19 vaccination from Yaquelin De La Cruz at the Research Centers of America (RCA) in Hollywood, Florida, on August 13, 2020.[/caption]

The vaccine’s late stage eficacy rate almost doubled the 50 percent threshold required by the FDA to be considered for approval.

Since then, the company has filed for emergency use authorization (EUA) and the FDA is set to review mRNA-1273’s data on December 17. The general consensus is that the vaccine will pass the test.

The vaccine was designed by January 13, just two days after the virus’ genetic sequence was made public, and before moving into Phase 1 of clinical studies.

This means that by the time of the first American death attributed to Coronavirus, the vaccine had already been made.

The vaccine was then shipped to the National Institutes of Health for the first of three clinical trials.

By August 11, Moderna had entered a supply agreement with the US government for an initial 100 million doses of mRNA-1273.

And about two months later, the biotechnology company revealed it had successfully completed all phases of the clinical trials, on October 22.

Nicholas Christakis, who directs Yale’s Human Nature Lab and whose new book, Apollo’s Arrow, explores the way COVID-19 may shape our near-term future, said Moderna’s speed was “astonishing”, according to New York Magazine.

The design of other vaccines, however, was nearly as fast: BioNTech with Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca.

Reuters

An employee works at the Pfizer laboratories where they conduct research and development on a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Pearl River, New York, U.S.[/caption]

Reuters

Vials are seen as an employee works on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the Pfizer manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S[/caption]

Researchers at the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have reported that Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273, caused the human immune system to produce potent antibodies that endure for at least three months.

Earlier this month, Moderna re-affirmed its expectation of having approximately 20 million doses available in the US by the end of 2020.

“Additionally, the Company expects to have between 100 million and 125 million doses available globally in the first quarter of 2021, with 85-100 million of those available in the U.S. and 15-25 million of those available outside of the U.S,” a statement from Moderna read.

“These expected first quarter doses are inclusive within the 500 million to up to 1 billion doses that the Company expects to manufacture globally in 2021.”