At last, light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel: At least two highly effective vaccines should begin distribution before year’s end.
Moderna this week followed Pfizer in announcing plans to have a vaccine on the market by the end of December, and other companies are likely to soon follow.
US Health Secretary Alex Azar expects enough doses to vaccinate 20 million Americans before Jan. 1, with a real hope of universal US vaccination by mid-2021.
Thank President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed for not only funding research and the development of production facilities, but for goosing the bureaucracies that would normally make these unprecedented developments impossible.
Moderna’s vaccine tested 95 percent effective: In its 30,000-person clinical trial, only 95 contracted the virus — and 90 of them had received placebos. None of the only five cases who’d gotten both doses of the vaccine became severely ill, suggesting that even when it “fails” it may partly succeed.
Each company says it will ask the Food and Drug Administration for emergency-use approval, which should come rapidly.
Both vaccines (Pfizer reports 90 percent effectiveness) use messenger RNA to provoke immune response in cells. And Moderna’s can last up to 30 days in regular refrigeration temperatures, making distribution much simpler than for the Pfizer formula, which requires extreme cold.
With infection rates surging in several parts of the country, this news comes just when America needs it: Don’t stop taking care, but know that our national nightmare could be finally nearing an end.