TSR Health: It sounds like the U.S. is getting closer to having an effective vaccine. Biotechnology firm Moderna announced today that a preliminary analysis shows its experimental coronavirus vaccine is nearly 95 percent effective at preventing illness, including severe cases, the Associated Press reports.
The news, which comes a week after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said that its coronavirus vaccine was more than 90 percent effective, certainly creates hope as the pandemic enters a terrible new phase in the U.S., with reports of cases climbing across the nation.
The results from the tests are “truly striking,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-diseases expert. “The vaccines that we’re talking about, and vaccines to come, are really the light at the end of the tunnel.”
We all know we’re trying to enjoy the holidays with our family and have international baecations and birthday trips in 2021, so in other words, this vaccine can’t come fast enough. Covid-19 cases topped 11 million in the U.S. over the weekend — 1 million of them recorded in just the past week — and governors and mayors are tightening up restrictions ahead of Thanksgiving.
The outbreak has killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide, more than 246,000 of them in the U.S.
The news of the vaccine has also undoubtedly had an effect on the stock market. Stocks rallied on Wall Street, and around the world for that matter, on rising hopes that the global economy could start returning to normal in the coming months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 470 points, or 1.6%, to close at a record high of over 29,950, and Moderna stock was up almost 10%.
Both vaccines would require two shots, given several weeks apart. U.S. officials said they hope to have about 20 million Moderna doses plus another 20 million of the vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to use in late December.
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