The European Medicines Agency (EMA, in its original acronym) today gave ‘green light’ to Moderna’s vaccine, which will be administered in two doses 28 days apart. The European Commission now has the final say on the approval of this vaccine.
“The EMA recommended granting a conditional authorization for the vaccine to prevent Covid-19 in people over 18 years of age,” according to the European regulator.
The regulator points out that the effectiveness reached about 91%, including in patients at risk with chronic diseases in the lungs, heart, obesity, liver, diabetes or HIV. This “high effectiveness” has also been demonstrated in different sexes, and different ethnic and racial groups.
Clinical trials involved a total of 30,000 people, half of whom received the vaccine and half received a placebo, a false vaccine to elude false results, with people not knowing which vaccine they were getting. “An extensive clinical trial has shown that Moderna’s vaccine was effective in preventing Covid-19 from 18 years of age.”
Regarding side effects, Moderna says that they were “mild or moderate and improved a few days after vaccination”. The most common effects were pain and swelling at the injection site, tiredness, chills, fever, swelling, sensitive lymph nodes under the arm, headaches, muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting.
According to EMA’s executive director, Emer Cooke, “this vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency. It is a testament to the efforts and commitments of all involved that we have this second positive recommendation less than a year before the pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization ”.
- News in update
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