Coronavirus: Moderna has had effective Covid-19 vaccine since January
The world celebrated last month after Moderna’s long-awaited coronavirus vaccine candidate was found to be 94.5% effective in early clinical results.
But according to New York Magazine, the US pharmaceutical giant finished designing that very same vaccine back on 13 January - just two days after the genetic sequence of the virus had been made public and more than a week before the first confirmed coronavirus case in the US.
The vaccine design reportedly “took all of one weekend” to develop and “was completed before China had even acknowledged that the disease could be transmitted from human to human”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And by the time the US reported its first Covid-related death, in February, the Moderna vaccine had “already been manufactured and shipped to the National Institutes of Health for the beginning of its Phase I clinical trial”, the mag continues.
Although the speed of the development effort means that “for the entire span of the pandemic… the US had the tools needed to prevent it”, experts agree that completing intensive trials is vital for the safe rollout of any vaccine.
But as Politico’s London Playbook Emilio Casalicchio notes, “if we had taken a punt and started handing it out (unthinkable, of course), we could be in a different world now”.
Since posting the trial results in November, Moderna has submitted its vaccine candidate for regulatory approval in the US and the EU, “making it the second Western vaccine maker on track to start distribution in December”, the Financial Times reports.
The company says the trial data has also been sent to “regulators where it is already under rolling review, including in the UK”, the paper adds.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why Man United finally lost patience with ten Hag
Talking Point After another loss United sacked ten Hag in hopes of success in the Champion's League
By The Week UK Published
-
Who are the markets backing in the US election?
Talking Point Speculators are piling in on the Trump trade. A Harris victory would come as a surprise
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: November 3, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Putin's fixation with shamans
Under the Radar Secretive Russian leader, said to be fascinated with occult and pagan rituals, allegedly asked for blessing over nuclear weapons
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 February - 1 March
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will mounting discontent affect Iran election?
Today's Big Question Low turnout is expected in poll seen as crucial test for Tehran's leadership
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sweden clears final NATO hurdle with Hungary vote
Speed Read Hungary's parliament overwhelmingly approved Sweden's accession to NATO
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published