US coronavirus vaccine chief offers the best news yet about immunity

[Chris Smith]

• Although coronavirus vaccinations are underway in the UK and US, researchers and health experts still can’t say how long COVID-19 immunity will last.
• Moncef Slaoui, the head of Operation Warp Speed in the US, shared encouraging news about coronavirus immunity from the vaccines in a recent interview.
• The health expert said that vaccines might prevent infection for a limited time, but he expects the drugs to protect against severe COVID-19 for as long as three years after immunization.

Vaccinations with the Pfizer/BioNTech drugs have started in the UK and US, with Europe to follow in late December. Phase 3 trial data showed the drug is 95% effective at blocking COVID-19 and is safe for use. Moderna’s vaccine will be reviewed on Thursday, and the FDA will likely approve it at the recommendation of the independent panel looking at the data. The Moderna drug is also safe to use and 94% effective at blocking the illness. The Moderna vaccine blocked severe COVID-19 in all of the volunteers who were vaccinated and then contracted the virus.

The US is looking to inoculate some 20 million people in December with one of the two vaccines. Regardless of the chosen drug, people who choose to take advantage of vaccines this early will have to get two injections for the best possible protection, spread a few weeks apart. Researchers still can’t say how long vaccine-induced immunity will last, but the chief medical adviser for Operation Warp Speed has one of the best estimations so far.

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US coronavirus vaccine chief offers the best news yet about immunity originally appeared on BGR.com on Thu, 17 Dec 2020 at 17:47:04 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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