Success rate of Moderna’s vaccine is 95 percent

Agency: Moderna Inc’s experimental vaccine is 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on interim data from a late-stage trial, the company said on Monday.

With the announcement, Moderna has become the second U.S. drugmaker to report results that far exceed expectations.

Together with Pfizer Inc’s vaccine, which is also more than 90% effective, and pending more safety data and regulatory review, the United States could have two vaccines authorized for emergency use in December. According to Reuters, as many as 60 million doses of vaccine are available this year.

The vaccines, both developed with new technology known as messenger RNA, represent powerful tools to fight a pandemic that has infected 54 million people worldwide and killed 1.3 million.

Unlike Pfizer’s vaccine, Moderna’s shot can be stored at normal fridge temperatures, which should make it easier to distribute. The announcement comes at a critical time when COVID-19 cases are hitting new records in the United States and pushing some European countries back into lockdowns.

Moderna’s interim analysis was based on 95 infections among trial participants who received the vaccine. Only five infections occurred in volunteers who received the vaccine mRNA-1273, which is administered in two shots 28 days apart.