Moderna: Early coronavirus vaccine results are encouraging

An experimental vaccine against coronavirus showed encouraging results in very early testing, triggering hoped-for immune responses in eight healthy, middle-d volunteers, its maker anunced Monday.

Study volunteers given eir a low or medium dose of vaccine by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. h antibodies similar to those seen in people who have recovered from COVID-19.

In next phase of study, led by U.S. National Institutes of Health, researchers will try to determine which dose is best for a definitive experiment that y aim to start in July.

In all, 45 people have received one or two shots of vaccine, which was being tested at three different doses. kind of detailed antibody results needed to assess responses are only available on eight volunteers so far.

vaccine seems safe, company said, but much more extensive testing is needed to see if it remains so. A high dose version is being dropped after spurring some short-term side effects.

results have t been published and are only from first of three sts of testing that vaccines and drugs rmally undergo. U.S. government officials have launched a project called “Operation Warp Speed” to develop a vaccine and hopefully have 300 million doses by January.

Worldwide, about a dozen vaccine candidates are in first sts of testing or nearing it. Health officials have said that if all goes well, studies of a potential vaccine might wrap up by very late this year or early next year.

More than 4.7 million infections and 315,000 deaths from coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide since it emerged in China late last year. re are specific approved treatments, although several are being used on an emergency basis after showing some promise in preliminary testing.