- The results of the groundbreaking Moderna vaccine to fight COVID-19 look incredibly promising.
- Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be 94.5% effective against the virus so far.
- These are some of the Moderna vaccine side effects that have been reportedly experienced.
The US is entering one of and perhaps the darkest stretch of the coronavirus pandemic yet, with COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surging across most of the US right now — leading various governors and mayors to press forward with new restrictions on individuals and businesses.
Meantime, at least we got to start off the week on a hopeful note, thanks to the announcement of results for the groundbreaking Moderna vaccine. In a press release on Monday morning, Moderna announced that its coronavirus vaccine candidate is 94.5% effective in preventing infection, based on data from Phase 3 study that enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the United States. When you combine that with a similarly high effectiveness rate reported by Pfizer for its experimental coronavirus vaccine, it’s certain reason for optimism. But there’s still something else to note about these vaccines.
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Side effects for Moderna’s vaccine are already starting to be revealed from trial participants, and they apparently include things like fever, arm pain, and fatigue.
During an interview on Fox & Friends, a volunteer who’s also a college student from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill talked about some of the side effects he experienced as a result of participating in Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine trial. Jack Morningstar said he got an initial dose of Moderna’s vaccine candidate and was given another shot less than a month later. His side effects included feeling fatigue and a bit of a fever.
Never thought I’d be on Fox News, but hey it’s 2020. Get vaccinated. Nuff said. https://t.co/PymvLUGZFd #FoxNews
— Jack Morningstar (@Morningstarjack) November 13, 2020
“As a tech-savvy person, I’ve become aware of a lot of the misinformation that’s being spread online about some of these vaccines and its process, and I’d just like to emphasize that I don’t think now’s the time to be fearmongering about vaccines,” he said.
“I don’t think we should be fearful about a low-grade fever and little bit of arm pain. That’s nothing. But what we should be fearful of is a death tally of 240,000 that’s currently spiking at a terrifying rate, at that.”
Morningstar brushed off the side effects, telling his interviewers that he easily dealt with them by taking some ibuprofen. Beyond that, he also had some pain at the site of the injection, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.
In terms of how this vaccine got developed, the US government kicked in $1 billion to help Moderna design and test its vaccine, and researchers at the National Institutes of Health — the umbrella agency which includes the one that White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci works for — oversaw the clinical trials. Additionally, Moderna has also already received another $1.5 billion from the US for 100 million doses of the vaccine.
