united kingdom has secured a deal for an
initial delivery of 5 million doses
of a brand new vaccine developed by the
u.s biotech firm moderna
the deal means that the vaccine could be
delivered from the spring of next year
if it's approved by the regulator the
health secretary for england
matt hancock warned that the safety data
was limited
and that the firm's production
facilities were not yet
fully developed modena says the trials
so far show the vaccine
is almost 95 percent effective it's been
tested on a range of people including
the over 65s
people with underlying medical
conditions and those from different
ethnic backgrounds and crucially it can
be stored at normal refrigerated
temperatures
making it much easier to distribute
possibly than the pfizer vaccine
announced last week
well there are currently around 50
vaccines being tested worldwide
and the latest success has raised hopes
that others
could be on the way our medical editor
fergus walsh has the story
another dose of hope and further
evidence
that vaccines will provide a way out of
this pandemic
thank you stunning early results from
this trial
from u.s firm moderna have eclipsed the
strong ones just a week ago
from pfizer biontech
i broke into an ear to ear grin when i
heard the numbers it really
exceeded our best hopes and it is an
incredibly exciting moment for us as a
company and as
a as a as the world as we start to
develop tools to fight the virus
thirty thousand volunteers in the u.s
took part in the trials
half had two doses of the vaccine a
month apart
the rest dummy injections early analysis
shows there were 90
covert cases in those given the dummy
treatment
and only five in the vaccinated group
moderna says this shows the vaccine is
over 94
effective at preventing covid what's
more
there were 11 cases of severe disease
but
none among those who got the vaccine i'd
like to update you
on the latest coronavirus data the
government urged people to
follow the coveted rules because even an
effective vaccine won't change the way
we live for months
but optimism is growing are you
a bit more confident today even more
confident
than a week ago that coved vaccines will
work
it's brilliant news absolutely brilliant
it's the second penalty now that's also
gone into the back of the net
so we're starting to feel in a better
position
moderna like pfizer have used a
completely
new method for creating vaccines which
doesn't need the virus itself
it uses the genes for the coronavirus
spike protein
this synthetic code known as rna
is created in the laboratory and forms
the vaccine
this teaches the body to recognize and
build an immune response to coronavirus
the moderna vaccine doesn't need to be
stored at
ultra low temperatures like pfizers and
will keep for up to 30 days in a normal
fridge
making distribution easier
before we can all throw away our face
masks and ditch social distancing
we're going to need to protect the world
from covid that will require
billions of doses of coronavirus vaccine
and it's why clinical trials must
continue
like this one which began today in
southampton and other sites across the
uk
the jab from the belgian firm janssen is
one of six
coveted vaccines pre-ordered by the
government
over time we will learn which of those
works better in different ages and
different
people with different conditions and
also how to use the vaccines in
combinations
to give people the best and longest
lasting immunity
caution is needed we still need full
safety
and effectiveness data for the moderna
and
pfizer jabs but there's a real sense now
that
some of the most vulnerable to covid
could be
immunized before christmas
and fergus is with me here in the studio
you allowed yourself a hint of a smile
a week ago fergus so how would you guide
viewers
along the hopes which uh attach
themselves to this second vaccine
well the smile is even broader tonight
hugh um
it's hugely encouraging it shows last
week's positive news
was not a flash in the pan now we've got
to be cautious
the numbers could change wait for the
safety data but 95
effective that is beyond the dreams of
any scientist
involved in this research and on the
moderna trial there were 7 000 people
over 65 there were thousands of
volunteers with serious risk factors and
there was a wide range of ethnicities so
all very promising now if the vaccines
get approved
we can start at some point maybe around
summertime next year
to start planning for a post-pandemic
future now moderna we've got enough
doses coming by late spring
to immunize about two and a half million
people in the uk
fisa enough doses for 20 million people
most of those will start coming early
next year
and then the oxford astrazeneca vaccine
we will have enough doses next years to
immunize
50 million people in the uk but we have
to consider the world
this is a global pandemic but given the
devastation to lives and livelihoods
from this pandemic it is heartening
to be able to report more good news
fergus indeed thank you very much again
fergus
walsh our medical editor